fcibrarjp  of trhe  t:heclogical  ^tmimry 

PRINCETON    .    NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Benjamin  Breckinridge  Warfield 

BR  160  .E5  C8  1842 
Eusebius,  ca.  2b0-ca.  340. 
The  ecclesiastical  history 
of  Eusebius  Pamphilus, 


THE 

ECCLESIASTICAL   HISTORY 

OF 

"^EUSEBIUS   PAMPHILUS, 

BISHOP    OF    CESAKEA,    IN    PALESTINE. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE   ORIGINAL, 

BY   REV.   C.   f/cRUSE,   A.   M., 

ASSISTANT   PROFESSOR   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


AN  HISTORICAL  VIEW 


THE    COUNCIL    OF    NICEj 


TRANSLATION  OF  DOCUMENTS, 


REV,  ISAAC  BOYLE,  D.  D. 


EIGHTH    EDITION. 


NEW   YORK: 

DAYTON    &    SAXTON. 

1842. 


■r^^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833,  by  the  Rev.  R.  Davis 
&  Brother,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


PEISTED    BY    T.    K.    &    P.   O.    COLLINS,    PHILA. 


NOTICE, 


The  edition  of  Eusebius  here  offered  to  the  public,  is  the  first 
that  has  been  issued  in  this  country.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  want 
of  health,  to  sustain  the  ordinary  labours  of  the  ministry,  and  a 
wish  to  promote  the  knowledge,  and  advance  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion. The  nature  of  the  work,  and  the  estimation  in  which  it 
has  usually  been  held  by  the  learned  and  pious,  sanction  the  mea- 
sure the  publisher  was  induced  to  adopt,  as  being  well  calculated 
to  answer  the  design.  Circumstances  attending  the  rise  and 
early  progress  of  Christianity,  in  a  great  measure  peculiar  to  the 
character,  condition,  and  wants  of  an  infant  Institution,  esta- 
blished by  divine  authority,  and  protected  to  its  completion  by 
evident  tokens  of  the  divine  presence  and  approbation,  highly 
interesting  in  their  nature,  and  extremely  important  to  be  known, 
invest  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eusebius,  (especially  as  it 
succeeds  immediately  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  is  for  a 
considerable  period  the  only  work  of  the  kind,)  with  a  degree 
of  value,  to  subsequent  ages,  that  no  other  uninspired  document 
is  entitled  to  claim.  The  undersigned  is  firmly  persuaded  that 
its  extensive  circulation  will,  as  it  furnishes  the  means  in  a  good 
degree  of  comparing  modern  with  primitive  times,  and  of  viewing 
them  in  contrast  with  each  other,  tend  to  increase  useful  know- 
ledge, promote  soundness  and  unity  in  the  faith,  advance  the 
cause  of  the  church,  and  maintain  peace  and  quietness  among  all 
Christian  people.  In  the  confident  opinion,  that  a  general  ac- 
quaintance with  primitive  Christianity  would  effect  much  for  its 
cause,  he  has  frequently  wished  to  see  the  more  important  works 
of  that  period  accessible  to  the  community  at  large.  The  follow- 
ing was  selected  as  an  experiment,  in  the  confident  expectation  of 
success :  and  is  now  at  length  issued,  though  the  patronage  re- 
a 


iy  NOTICE. 

ceived  will  not  defray  more  than  half  the  entire  expense  of  the 
publication.  He  trusts,  however,  that  its  value  as  a  history,  and 
its  merits  as  a  version,  together  with  the  pains  and  expense  in- 
curred, to  render  the  volume  worthy  of  public  approbation,  will 
secure  the  success  of  a  laudable  enterprize.  It  is  his  wish  to  give 
that  which  he  is  persuaded  the  Christian  community  will  be  gra- 
tified to  receive — the  History  of  the  Primitive  Churchy  by  Eu- 
sebius,  accessible  to  common  readers,  and  executed  and  finished 
with  fideUty. 

Deeming  it  exceedingly  important  to  the  interests  of  rehgion, 
that  the  eye  of  Christians,  generally,  should  be  directed  to  primi- 
tive tunes,  the  undersigned  contemplates  the  publication  of  some 
of  the  choicer  works  of  that  period.  Should  the  patronage  of 
Christian  denominations,  generally,  warrant  the  undertaking,  a 
regular  series  of  the  entire  works,  and  parts  of  works,  of  primitive 
Christianity,  as  nearly  in  theii"  chronological  order  as  may  be, 
adapted  to  the  use  of  parish,  congregational,  and  other  pubUc 
libraries,  will,  as  soon  as  the  important  arrangemerits  necessary  to 
its  being  executed  in  good  faith  can  be  made,  be  commenced. 

THE  PUBLISHER. 
Philadelphia,  March  22d,  1833. 


:  The  following  history  enda  A.  D.  324.  The  Council  of  Nice  met  A.  D.  325. 
The  Author's  lifa  and  eulogy  of  Constantine,  and  that  Emperor's  address  to  the 
Council,  are  therefore,  togetlier  with  the  history  of  Socrates,  highly  important 
and  useful  works,  without  which  a  proper  acquaintance  with  that  important 
period  of  the  Church  cannot  be  acquired. 


ANNOTATIONS 

ON   THE 

LIFE  AND  WRITINGS  OF  EUSEBIUS  PAMPHILUS, 
BY  VALESIUS. 


TRANSLATED*  BY  THE  REV.  S.  E.  PARKER, 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  ARTICLES    'PROSODY,'    'QUANTITY,'   AND    'VERSIFICATION,'   IN 
DR.  REES'S  CYCLOPEDIA. 


According  to  the  testimony  of  Socrates,t  a  book  relative  to  the  life 
of  Eusebius,  was  written  by  Acacius,  the  scholar  of  that  prelate,  and 
his  successor  in  the  see  of  Csesarea.  This  book,  however,  through 
that  negligence  in  antiquity  to  which  the  loss  of  many  others  is  to 
be  ascribed,  is  not  now  extant;  but  from  the  testimonies  of  the 
several  writers  that  have  mentioned  Eusebius,  no  exertions  of  ours 
shall  be  wanting  to  supply  the  defect. 

It  appears  that  Eusebius  was  born  in  Palestine,  about  the  close  of 
the  reign  of  Gallienus.  One  proof  of  which  is,  that  by  the  ancients, 
particularly  by  Basilius  and  Theodoret,  he  is  frequently  termed  a  Pa- 
lestinian. It  is  not  impossible,  indeed,  that  he  might  have  received 
that  name  from  his  being  the  bishop  of  Csesarea,  yei  probability  is  in 
favour  of  his  having  derived  it  from  his  country.  In  short,  he  him- 
self affirms,^  that  he  was  educated,  and  when  a  youth,  dwelt  in  Pales- 
tine, and  that  there  he  first  saw  Constantine,  when  journeying  through 
Palestine  in  the  suit  of  Diocletian  Augustus.  Eusebius,  too,  after 
repeating§  the  contents  of  a  law,  written  in  favour  of  the  Christians, 
by  Constantine  to  the  Palestinians,  observes,  "  This  letter  of  the  Em- 
peror's is  the  first  sent  to  us." 

On  the  authority  of  Eusebius  himself,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  he 

•  In  this  version,  the  sense,  more  than  the  expression  of  Valesius,  is  regarded, 
f  Ecclcs.  Hist.  lib.  2.  c.  4. 

i  In  his  first  book  concerning  the  Ufe  of  Constantine,  chap.  19. 
§  Life  of  Constantine,  book  ii.  chap.  43,  where  see  note  a.  Cambr.  edit.  1693. 
1* 


VI  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

was  born  in  the  last  part  of  the  reign  of  Gallienus ;  for,  in  his  Ec- 
clesiastic History,  he  informs  us,  that  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria, lived  in  his  own  age.*  Eusebius,  therefore,  since  Dionysius 
died  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  must  have  been 
born  before,  if  he  lived  within  the  time  of  that  prelate.  The  same 
inference,  also,  follows,  from  his  stating,!  that  Paul  of  Samosata,  had 
revived  the  heresy  of  Artemon,  in  hisX  age.  And  in  his  history  of 
the  occurrences  during  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  before  he  begins  the 
narrative  of  the  error  and  condemnation  of  Paul  of  Samosata,  he  ob- 
serves, "  but  now,  after  the  history  of  these  things,  Ave  will  transmit 
to  posterity  an  account  of  our  own  age.^' 

Whom  he  had  for  his  parents  is  uncertain  ;  neither  do  we  know  by 
what  authorities,  Nicephorus  Callistus  is  warranted  in  affirming,  thai 
his  mother  was  the  sister  of  Pamphilus  the  martyr.  Eusebius  of 
Caesarea,  in  Arius's  letter,§  is  termed  brother  to  Eusebius  of  Nice- 
media.  Though  he  possibly  might,  on  account  of  his  friendship, 
have  received  this  appellation,  yet  it  is  more  probable  that  he  was 
nearly  related  to  the  Nicomedian  bishop ;  especially  since,  Eusebius 
of  Cassarea  only,  though  many  others  there  are  mentioned,  is  termed 
by  Arius,  brother  to  that  prelate.  Besides  the  Nicomedian  Eusebius 
was  a  native  of  Syria,  and  bishop  first  of  Berytus :  nor  was  it  then 
the  usage,  that  foreigners  and  persons  unknown,  should  be  promoted 
to  the  government  of  churches. 

Neither  is  it  known  what  teachers  he  had  in  secular  learning ;  but 
in  sacred  literature,  he  had  for  his  preceptor  Dorotheus,  the  eunuch, 
presbyter  of  the  Antiochian  church,  of  whom  he  makes  honourable 
mention,  in  his  Seventh  Book.||  Notwithstanding  Eusebius  there 
says  only,  that  he  had  heard  Dorotheus  expounding  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures with  propriety,  in  the  Antiochian  church,  we  are  not  inclined 
to  object  to  any  one  hence  inferring,  with  Trithemius,  that  Eusebius 
was  Dorotheus's  disciple.  Theotecnus  being  at  that  time  dead,  the 
bishopric  of  the  church  of  Cfesarea  was  administered  by  Agapius,  a 
person  of  eminent  piety  and  great  liberality  to  the  poor.  By  him 
Eusebius  was  admitted  into  the  clerical  office,  and  with  Pamphilus, 
a  presbyter  of  distinction  at  that  time  in  the  Caesarean  church,  he 

•  See  lib.  3.  c.  28.  f  Eccles.  Hist,  book  v.  chap.  28.  t  Eusebius's. 

§  Arius's  letter  to  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  will  be  found  in  Theodoret's 
Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  1.  c.  5.  edit.  Val.  |  Chap.  1.  p.  2. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  Vii 

entered  into  the  firmest  friendship.     Pamphihis  Avas,  as  Photius  re- 
lates, a  Phoenician,  born  at  Berytus,  and  scholar  of  Pierius,  a  pres- 
byter of  the  Alexandrian  church.     Who,  since  he  was  animated  with 
the  most  singular  attachment  to  sacred  literature,  and  was  with  the 
utmost  zeal  collecting  all  the  books,  especially  Origen's,  of  the  eccle- 
siastic writers,  founded  a  very  celebrated  school  and  library  at  Cffisa- 
rea,  of  which  school  Eusebius  seems  to  have  been  the  first  master. 
Indeed,  it  is  affirmed*  by  Eusebius,  that  Apphianus,  who  suffered 
martyrdom  in  the  third  year  of  the  persecution,  had  been  instructeo 
by  him  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  the  city  of  Caesarea.     From  that 
time  Eusebius's  intimacy  with  Pamphihis  was  so  great,  and  his  at- 
tention to  him,  as  his  inseparable  companion  till  his  death  such,  that 
from  this  attachment  he  acquired  the  name  of  Pamphihis.     Neither 
did  that  attachment  terminate  with  the  death  of  the  latter,  but  survived 
with  the  former,  who  ever  mentioned  his  deceased  friend  in  the  most 
respectful  and  aff'ectionate  manner;  this,  indeed,  is  exemplified  by  the 
three  books,  eulogized  by  St.  Jerome,  and  written  by  Eusebius,  con- 
cerning the  life  of  Pamphihis,  and  by  many  passages  in  his  Eccle- 
siastic°History,  and  in  his  account  of  the  martyrs  of  Palestine.     In 
his  Second  Book,  also,  against  Sabellius,  written  by  Eusebius,  after 
the  Nicene  Council,  he  frequently  commends  Pamphilus,  though  he 
suppresses  his  name.     In  the  commencement  of  that  discourse,  Euse- 
bius observes,  "  I  think  that  my  ears  are  as  yet  aff'ected  by  the  me- 
mory of  that  blessed  man;  for  I  seem  to  be  yet  hearing  him  utter  that 
devout  word,  '  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,'  a  phrase  he  constandy 
employed  ;  for  it  was  the  remembrance  of  the  only  begotten  to  the 
glory  of  the  unborn  Father.     Now  we  have  heard  the  apostle  com- 
manding that  presbyters  ought  to  be  honoured  with  a  double  honour, 
those  especially  Avho  have  laboured  in  the  word  and  doctrine."     And 
at  page  29,  he  thus  again  speaks  of  his  friend :  "  With  these  things 
from  the  memory  of  that  blessed  man,  I  am  not  elated,  but  wish  I 
could  so  speak,  as  if,  together  with  you,  I  were  always  hearing  from 
him.     And  the  words  now  cited  may  be  pleasing  to  him,  for  it  is  the 
glory  of  good  servants  to  speak  truth  concerning  the  Lord,  and  it  is 
the  honour  of  those  fathers,  who  have  taught  well,  if  their  doctrines 
be  repeated."t     Some,  it  is  true,  "  may  insinuate,  that  these  were 
•  In  his  book  concerning  the  martyrs  of  Palestine. 

\  Again,  in  the  same  book,  p.  37:  "These  words  we  always  heard  from  that 
blessed  man,  for  they  were  often  thus  spoken  by  him." 


via  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

phrases,  the  creatures  of  his  lips,  and  no  proof  of  tlie  feelings  of  his 
heart.  I  remember,  however,  in  what  a  satisfactory  manner,  I  have 
lieard  with  you,  his  solemn  asseveration,  that  there  was  not  one  thing 
on  his  tongue  and  another  in  his  heart."  Shortly  after,  he  says : 
"  But  now  on  account  of  the  memory  and  honour  of  this  our  father, 
so  good,  so  laborious,  and  so  vigilant  for  the  church,  let  these  facts 
be  briefly  stated  by  us.  For  we  have  not  mentioned  yet  his  fami.y, 
his  education  or  learning,  nor  narrated  the  other  incidents  of  his  life, 
and  its  leading  or  principal  object.^'*  These  passages  in  Eusebius 
were  pointed  out  to  us  by  the  most  learned  Franciscus  Ogerius. 
Hence  it  may  be  satisfactorily  inferred,  that  it  was  not  any  family 
alliance,  but  the  bond  of  amity  that  connected  Eusebius  with  Pam- 
phius.  Eusebius,  though  he  mentions  Pamphilus  so  frequently,  and 
boasts  so  highly  of  his  friendship,  yet  never  speaks  of  him  as  a 
relative.  The  testimony  of  Eusebius  alone  is  sufficient  to  decide 
that  Pamphilus,  though  his  friend,  was  not  his  kinsman.  Since 
in  the  close  of  his  Seventh  Book  of  Ecclesiastic  History,  where 
he  is  makmg  mention  of  Agapius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  he  says  :  "  In 
his  time,  Ave  became  acquainted  with  Pamphilus,  a  most  eloquent 
man,  and  in  his  life  and  practices  truly  a  philosopher,!  and  in  the 
same  church,  ennobled  with  the  honour  of  the  presbytery."     Since 

*  "  Propositum"  is  the  word  employed  by  Valesius,  doubtless  in  that  accepta- 
tion in  which  its  precise  sense  is  so  easily  appreciated  by  the  classic  reader  in 
Horace,  Car.  lib.  iii.  ode  iii.  line  i.  ''Justurn  et  tenacem  propositi  virum,  non 
civium  ardor  prava  jubentium,  non  vultus  instantis  tyranni  raente  quatit  solida," 
&c.  Should  not  Christians  have,  universally,  a  far  more  vivid  perception  of  this 
beautiful  picture  of  mind  than  heathens  1  St.  Paul  had  ;  see  Philip,  chap.  iii.  ver 
13  &  14. 

■j-  The  term  philosopher,  in  the  modern  sense  in  which  it  is  commonly  under- 
stood, by  no  means  expresses  the  precise  meaning  of  the  word  ^ixoro^os,  here  used 
by  Eusebius.  By  Isocrates,  it  is  frequently  employed  to  express  an  eloquent  per 
son,  or  teacher  of  eloquence.  Its  generic  sense  is  a  lover  of  -wisdom.  Wisdom 
by  the  Sophists,  was  of  course  confined  to  their  own  doctrines.  But  according  to 
the  sense  in  which  Josephus  and  other  Grecian  writers  employed  the  word  cix.oro?of, 
the  lover  of  wisdom,  seems  not  to  be  searching  for  wisdom,  either  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  Sophists,  or  in  the  Cartesian  vortices,  but  in  the  volumes  of  inspired  truth. 
This  character,  then,  is  equivalent  to  what  in  modern  language  is  called  a  theolo- 
gian, in  which  sense,  I  have  no  doubt,  Eusebius  is  here  to  be  understood.  Henco 
Pamphilus  was  a  character  not  only  devoted  to  the  attainment  of  that  ivisdom, 
which  is  developed  in  the  sacred  code,  but  his  life  and  practices  were  such  as  to 
recommend  it  to  others;  consequently,  a  true  theologian, — Translator, 


iim. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBITIS. 

then,  Eusebius  attests  that  Pamphilus  was  then  first  known  to  h 
it  is  sufiiciently  evident,  that  family  alliance  was  not  the  tie  that  con- 
nected thon. 

In  these  times  occurred  that  most  severe  persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians, which  was  begun  by  Diocletian,  and  by  his  successors  con- 
tinued unto  the  tenth  year.     During  this  persecution,  Eusebius,  at 
that  time  being  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Csesarea,  abode  almost 
constantly  in   that  city,  and   by  continual    exhortations,    instructed 
many  persons    in   order  to  martyrdom..   Amongst   whom  was  Ap- 
phianus,  a  noble  youth,  whose  illustrious  fortitude  in  martyrdom  is 
related  in  Eusebius's  book  concerning  the  martyrs  of  Palestine.     In 
the  same  year  Pamphilus  was  cast  into  prison,  where  he  spent  two 
whole  years  in  bonds.     During  which  time,  Eusebius  by  no  means 
deserted  his  friend  and  companion,  but  visited  him  continually,  and 
in  the  prison  wrote,  together  with  him,  five  books  in  defence  of  Ori- 
gen ;  but  the  sixth  and  last  book  of  that  work,  he  finished  after  the 
death  of  Pamphilus.— That  whole  work  was  by  Eusebius  and  Pam- 
philus dedicated*  to  Christian  confessors,!  living  in  the  mines  of  Pa- 
lestine.    In  the  time  of  this  persecution,  on  account,  probably,  of 
some  urgent  afl'airs  of  the  church,  Eusebius  went  to  Tyre.     During 
his  residence  there,  he  witnessed!  the  glorious  martyrdom  of  five 
Egyptian  Christians ;  and  afterwards,  on  his  arrival  in  Egypt  and 
Thebais,  the  persecution  then  prevailing  there,  he  §  beheld  the  admi- 
rable   constancy  of  many  martyrs  of  both  sexes.     Some  have  in- 
sinuated that  Eusebius,  to  exempt  himself  in  this  persecution,  from 
the  troubles  of  a  prison,  sacrificed  to  idols ;  and  that  this  was  ob- 
jected against  him,  as  will  be  hereafter  related,  by  the  Egyptian 
bishops  and  confessors,  in  the  synod  at  Tyre.     But  we  doubt  not 
that  this  is    false,  and  that  it  was  a  calumny   forged   by  the    ene- 

•  This  is  affirmed  by  Photius  in  his  Bibliotheca,  chap.  118. 

f  Though  the  word  here  employed  by  Valesius,  is  confessores,  yet  there  cannot 
be  the  least  doubt,  that  the  characters  to  whom  he  alludes  were  very  different  from 
those  which  a  more  recent  application  of  the  term  might  intimate.  Confessores 
were  simply  persons  that  had  confessed  and  acknowledged  openly,  during  the  time 
of  the  persecution,  that  they  were  Christians,  and  would  not,  to  save  either  their 
lives  or  property,  deny  their  Master  or  his  sacred  cause.  They  were  decided  cha- 
racters, tenaces  propositi.  This  term  was  employed  by  Valesius,  who  lived  in  an 
age  of  the  church  when  its  use  was  popular. 

t  Eusebius  informs  us  of  this  in  his  Eighth  Book,  chap.  7. 
§  This  he  relates  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  same  Book. 


X  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

mies  of  Eusebius.  For  had  a  crime  so  great  been  really  committed 
by  him,  how  could  he  have  been  afterwards  appointed  bishop  of 
Caesarea  ?  How  is  it  likely  that  he  should,  in  this  case,  have  been 
invited  by  the  Antiochians  to  undertake  the  episcopate  of  their  city  ? 
And  yet  Cardinal  Baronius  has  seized  on  that  as  certain  and  un- 
doubted, which  by  his  enemies,  for  litigious  purposes,  was  objected 
against  Eusebius,  but  never  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  any  one. 
At  the  same  time,  a  book  was  written  by  Eusebius  against  Hierocles. 
For  Hierocles  of  Nicomedia,  about  the  beginning  of  the  persecution, 
when  the  Christian  churches  were  everywhere  harassed,  in  the  city 
of  Nicomedia,  published,  as  an  insult  to  a  religion  then  assailed  by 
all  its  enemies,  two*  books  against  the  Christian  faith.  In  which  books 
he  asserted,  that  Apollonius  Tyaneus  performed  more  and  greater 
thingst  than  Christ.  These  impious  assertions,  Eusebius  answered  in 
a  very  short  book,  as  if  he  regarded  the  man  and  his  cause  of  little 
consequence. 

Agapius,  bishop  of  Caesarea  during  this  interval,  being  dead,  the 
persecution  subsiding,  and  peace  being  restored  to  ihe  church,  Euse- 
bius, by  common  consent,  succeeds  to  the  episcopal  dignity  at  Caesa- 
rea. Others  represent  Agricola,  who  subscribed  to  the  synod  of 
Ancypa,  at  which  he  was  present  in  the  314th  year  of  the  Christian 
era,  to  be  the  successor  of  Agapius.  This  is  affirmed  by  Baronius 
in  his  AnnalsJ  and  Blondellus.§  The  latter  writes,  that  Eusebius  un- 
dertook the  administration  of  the  church  of  Caesarea,  after  the  death 
of  Agiicola,  about  the  year  315.  But  these  subscriptions  of  the  bishops 
extant  only  in  the  Latin  collections  of  the  canons,  seem  in  our 
judgment  to  be  entitled  to  litde  credit.  For  they  occur  not  either  in 
the  Greek  copies,  or  in  the  Latin  versions  of  Dionysius  Exiguus, 
Berides,  Eusebius, ||  enumerating  the  bishops  of  the  principal  dio- 
cesses,  where  the  persecution  began  and  raged,  ends  with  the  men- 
tion of  Agapius  bishop  of  Caesarea  ;  who,  he  observes,  laboured  much, 
during  that  persecution,  for  the  good  of  his  own  church.  The  ne- 
cessary inference,  therefore,  is,  that  Agapius  must  have  been  bishop 
until  the  end  of  the  persecution.     But  Eusebius  was  elevated  to  the 

•  Which  he  termed  (?i\«>.>,3(i,-. 

f  No  word  for "  miracles"  occurs  in  the  text  of  Valesius. 

\  Ad.  annum  Christi,  314. 

§  In  his  Apology  pro  Sententia  Hieronymi.  c.  19.  Val. 

II  In  the  7th  Book  of  his  Ecclesiactic  Hist.  chap.  32. 


LIFE  OP  EUSEBIUS.  » 

episcopal  function  immediately  after  that  persecution.  For  after  peace 
-was  restored  to  the  church,  Eusebius*  and  other  prelates  being  in- 
vited by  Paulinus  bishop  of  Tyre,  to  the  dedication  of  a  cathedral. 
Eusebius  made  there  a  very  eloquent  oration.  Now  this  happened 
before  the  rebellion  of  Licinius  against  Constantine,  in  the  315th 
year  of  the  Christian  era,  about  which  period  Eusebius  wrote  those 
celebrated  books  concerning  Evangelic  Demonstration  and  Prepara- 
tion. And  these  books  were  certainly  written  before  the  Nicenc 
Synod,  since  they  are  expressly  mentioned  in  his  Ecclesiastic  His- 
tory, which  was  written,  as  proved  in  our  Annotations,  before  that 
council. 

Meanwhile,  Licinius,  who  managed  the  government  in  the  eastern 
parts,  excited  by  sudden  rage,  began  to  persecute  the  Christians,  es- 
pecially the  prelates,  whom  he  suspected  of  showing  more  favour, 
and  of  offering  up  more  prayers  for  Constantine  than  for  himself. 
Constantine,  however,  having  defeated  him  in  two  battles  by  land  and 
sea,  compelled  him  to  surrender,  and  restored  peace  to  the  Christians 
of  the  eastern  countries. 

A  disturbance,  however,  far  more  grievous,  arose  at  that  time, 
amongst  the  Christians  themselves.  For  since  Arius,  a  presbyter  of 
the  city  of  Alexandria,  would  in  the  church,  publicly  advance  some 
new  and  impious  tenet  relative  to  the  Son  of  God,  and  notwith- 
standing repeated  admonition  by  Alexander  the  bishop,  persisted,  he 
and  his  associates  in  this  heresy,  were  at  length  expelled.  Highly 
resenting  this,  Arius  sent  letters  with  a  sketch  of  his  own  faith  to 
all  the  bishops  of  the  neighbouring  cities,  in  which  he  complained, 
that  since  he  asserted  the  same  doctrines  that  the  rest  of  the  east- 
ern prelates  maintained,  he  had  been  unjusdy  deposed  by  Alexander. 
Many  bishops  imposed  on  by  these  artifices,  and  powerfully  excited 
by  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  who  openly  favoured  the  Arian  party, 
wrote  letters  in  defence  of  Arius  to  Alexander  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
entreating  him  to  restore  Arius  to  his  former  rank  in  the  church. 
Our  Eusebius  was  one  of  their  number,  whose  letter  written  to  Alex- 
ander is  extant  in  the  acts  of  the  seventh  Oecumenical  Synod,  which 
we  have  inserted  amongst  the  testimoniest  of  the  ancients.      The 

"»  As  we  are  informed  in  the  tenth  book  of  his  Ecclesiastic  Hist.  Val.  See  chap. 
4,  where  Eusebius  has  inserted  this  oration. 

f  Of  these,  Valesius,  after  his  account  of  Eusebius's  hfe  and  writings,  presenU  a 
collection  made  by  himself,  both  for  and  against  Eusebius.  q.  v. 
b 


XII  LIFE  OF  EUSEBTUS. 

example  of  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  was  soon  followed  by  Theodotius 
and  Paulinus,  the  one  bishop  of  Laodicea,  the  other  of  Tyre,  who 
interceded  with  Alexander  for  Arius's  restoration.  Of  which  letter, 
since  Arius  boasted  on  every  occasion,  and  by  the  authority  of  such 
eminent  men,  drew  many  into  the  participation  of  his  heresy,  Alex- 
ander was  compelled  to  writhe  to  the  other  eastern  bishops,  that  the 
justice  of  the  expulsion  of  Arius  and  his  associates  might  be  under- 
stood. Two  letters  of  Alexander's  are  yet  extant ;  the  one  to  Alex- 
ander bishop  of  Constantinople,  in  which  the  former  complains  of 
three  Syrian  bishops,  who,  agreeing  with  Arius,  had  more  than  ever 
inflamed  that  contest,  which  they  ought  rather  to  have  suppressed. 
These  three,  as  may  be  learned  from  Arius's  letter  to  Eusebius  bishop 
of  Nicomedia,  are  Eusebius,  Theodotius,  and  Paulinus.  The  other 
letter  of  Alexander's,  written  to  all  the  bishops  throughout  the  world, 
Socrates  records  in  his  first  book.*  To  these  letters  of  Alexander's, 
almost  all  the  eastern  bishops  subscribed,  amongst  whom  the  most 
eminent  were  Philogonius  bishop  of  Antioch,  Eustathius  of  Beraea, 
and  Macarius  of  Jerusalem. 

The  bishops  who  favoured  the  Arian  party,  especially  Eusebius  of 
Nicomedia,  imagining  themselves  to  be  severely  treated  in  Alexan- 
der's letters,  devoted  themselves  with  much  greater  acrimony  to  the 
defence  of  Arius.  For  our  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  together  with  Pa- 
trophilus,  Paulinus,  and  other  Syrian  bishops,  merely  voted  that 
liberty  to  Arius  might  be  granted  of  holding,  as  a  presbyter,  assem- 
blies in  the  church,  subject  notwithstanding  to  Alexander  the  bishop, 
and  of  imploring  for  reconciliation  and  church  fellowship.  The 
bishops  disagreeing  thus  amongst  themselves,  some  favouring  the 
party  of  Alexander,  and  others  that  of  Arius,  the  contest  became  sin- 
gularly aggravated  ;  to  remedy  this,  Constantine,  from  all  parts  of  the 
Roman  world,  summoned  to  Nicsea,  a  city  of  Bythinia,  a  general 
synod  of  bishops,  such  as  no  age  before  had  seen.  In  this  greatest  and 
most  celebrated  council,  our  Eusebius  was  not  one  of  either  party. 
For  he  both  had  the  first  seat  on  the  right  hand,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  whole  synod  addressed  the  emperor  Constantine,  who  sat  on  a 
golden  chair,  between  the  two  rows  of  the  opposite  parties.  This  is 
affirmed  by  Eusebius  himself  in  his  Lifet  of  Constantine,  and  by 

•  Chap.  6. 

\  In  his  preface  to  the  first  book  concernmg  the  life  of  Constantine,  and  in  hia 
third  book  of  the  same  work,  chap.  ii. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  xm 

Sozomen*  in  his  Ecclesiastic  History.  Afterwards,  when  there  was  a 
considerable  contest  amongst  the  bishops,  relative  to  a  creed  or  form 
of  faith,  our  Eusebius  proposed  a  formula,  at  once  simple  and  ortho 
dox,  which  received  the  general  commendation  both  of  the  bishops 
and  of  the  emperor  himself.  Something,  notwithstanding,  seeming 
to  be  wanting  in  the  creed,  to  confute  the  impiety  of  the  new  opinion, 
the  fathers  of  the  Nicene  Council,  determined  that  these  words, 
"  Very  God  of  very  God,  begotten  not  made,  being  of  one  sub- 
stance WITH  THE  Father,"  should  be  added.  They  also  annexed 
anathemas  against  those  who  should  assert  that  the  Son  of  God  was 
made  of  things  not  existing,  and  that  there  was  a  time  when  he  ex- 
isted not.  At  first,  indeed,  our  Eusebius  refused  to  admit  the  term 
"  consiibstantial,''^  but  Avhen  the  import  of  that  word  was  explained 
to  him  by  the  other  bishops,  he  consented,  and  as  he  himself  relates 
in  his  letter^  to  his  diocess  atCsesarea,  subscribed  to  the  creed.  Some 
affirm  that  it  was  the  necessity  of  circumstances,  or  the  fear  of  the 
emperor,  and  not  the  conviction  of  his  own  mind,  that  compelled 
Eusebius  to  subscribe  to  the  Nicene  Council.  Of  some,  present  at 
the  synod,  this  might  be  believed,  but  this  Ave  cannot  think  of  Euse- 
bius bishop  of  CaDsarea.  After  the  Nicene  Council,  too,  Eusebius  al- 
ways condemned§  those  who  asserted  that  the  Son  of  God  was  made 
of  things  not  existing.  Athanasius  likewise  affirms  the  same  con- 
cerning him,  who  though  he  frequently  mentions  that  Eusebius  sub- 
scribed to  the  Nicene  Council,  nowhere  intimates  that  he  did  that  in 
dissimulation.  Had  Eusebius  subscribed  to  that  Council,  not  accord- 
ing to  his  own  mind,  but  fraudulently  and  in  pretence,  why  did  he 
afterwards  send  the  letter  we  have  mentioned  to  his  diocess  at  Caesarea, 
and  therein  ingenuously  profess  that  he  had  embraced  that  faith  which 
had  been  published  in  the  Nicene  Council  ? 

After  that  Council,  the  Arians  through  fear  of  the  emperor,  were, 
for  a  short  time  quiet.  But  by  artfully  ingratiating  themselves  into 
the  favour  of  the  prince,  they  resumed  boldness,  and  began  by  every 

•  In  the  first  book  of  that  vsrork,  chap.  19. 

■j-  •o^<.ou<r.o5,  consubslantial,  of  the  same  substance,  or  of  the  same  essence,  co-cs- 
sential. 

^  See  this  letter  in  Socrates,  book  i.  chap.  8. 

§  This  is  evident  from  his  books  against  Marcellus,  particularly  from  the  9th 
and  10th  chapters  of  his  first  book,  Be  Ecclesiasticd  Theologid. 

2 


adv  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

method  and  device,  to  persecute  the  Catholic  prelates.*  Their  first 
attack  fell  on  Eustathius,  bishop  of  the  city  of  Antioch,  eminent  both 
for  the  glory  of  his  confession,  and  for  the  rank  he  sustained  amongst 
the  advocates  of  the  Nicene  faith.  Eustathius  was,  therefore,  accused 
before  the  emperor  of  maintaining  the  Sabellian  impiety,  and  of  slan- 
dering Helena  Augusta,  the  emperor's  mother.  A  numerous  assembly 
of  bishops  was  convened  in  the  city  of  Antioch,  in  which  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia,  the  chief  and  ring-leader  of  the  whole  faction,  presided. 
In  addition  to  the  accusation  advanced  at  this  assembly  by  Cyrus 
bishop  of  the  Beraeans,  against  Eustathius,  of  maintaining  the  hnpious 
doctrine  of  Sabellius,  another!  is  devised  against  him  of  incontinency, 
and  he  is  therefore  expelled  from  bis  diocese.  On  this  account,  a 
very  impetuous  tumult  arose  at  Antioch.  The  people  divided  into 
two  factions,  the  one  requesting  that  the  episcopacy  of  the  Antiochitin 
church  might  be  conferred  on  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  the  other,  that 
Eustathius  their  bishop  might  be  restored,  would  have  resorted  to 
measures  of  violence,  had  not  the  fear  and  authority  of  the  emperor 
and  judges  prevented  it.  The  sedition  being  at  length  terminated,  and 
Eustathius  banished,  our  Eusebius,  though  entreated  both  by  the 
people,  and  the  bishops  that  were  present,  to  undertake  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  church  at  Antioch,  nevertheless  refused.  And,  when 
the  bishops  by  letters  written  to  Constantine,  had  acquainted  him 
with  their  own  vote,  and  with  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  Eusebius 
wrote  his  letters  also  to  that  prince,  and  Eusebius's  resolution  is 
highly  commended  in  the  emperor's  answer. 

Eustathius,  having  been  in  this  manner  deposed,  which  occurred,  as 
remarked  in  our  annotations;];  in  the  year  330,  the  Arians  turned  the  vio- 
lence of  their  fury  on  Athanasius ;  and  in  the  prince's  presence  they 
complained  first  of  his  ordination  ;  secondly,  that  he  had  exacted§  the 
impost  of  a  linen  garment  from  the  provincials  ;  thirdly,  that  he  had 

•  "  CathoUcos  Antistites"  are  the  words  of  Valesius  ;  but,  doubtless,  to  be  under- 
etood  here,  as  signifying,  not  the  prelates  of  the  Arian,  or  of  any  other  seceding 
party,  but  of  the  orthodox  church  universally,  according  to  the  meaning  of  the  term 
catholicns,  universal, 

•j-The  story  is  given  in  Theodoret's  Eccles.  Hist.  Book  i.  chap.  21.  edit.  Vales, 

+  See  Life  of  Constantine,  book  3,  chap.  f)9,  note  e. 

§  This  calumny,  the  Meletians,  instigated  by  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  invented ; 
as  Athanasius  tells  us  in  his  Apology  to  Constantine.  See  bis  works,  torn,  1, 
p.  778.     Edit,  Paris,  1627. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  ^ 

broken  a  sacred  cup  ;  and  lastly,  that  he  had  murdered  one  Arsenius  a 
bishop.  Constantine,  weanedwith  these  vexatious  Utigations  appointed 

a  council  in  the  city  of  Tyre,  and  directed  Athanasius  the  b-Wto  pro- 
ceed there,  to  make  his  defence.     In  that  synod,  Eusebms  bishop  of 
Csarea,  whom  Constantino  had  desired  should  be  present,  sat  amongst 
others,  as  judge.    Potamo  bishop  of  HeracleopoUs,  who  had  come  with 
Athanlsius  the  bishop  and  some  Egyptian  prelates   seeing  him  sitting 
in  the  council,  is  said  to  have  addressed  him  in  these  words:         Is 
it  fit,  Eusebius,  that  you  should  sit,  and  that  the  innocent  Athanasius 
should  stand  to  be  judged  by  you  ?     Who  can  endure  this  ?     Were 
you  not  in  custody  with  me,  during  the  time  of  the  persecution? 
Ld  I  truly,  in  defence  of  the  truth,  lost  an  eye  ;  but  you  are  injured 
in  no  part  of  your  body,  neither  did  you  undergo  martyrdom,  but 
are  alive  and  whole.     In  what  manner  did  you  escape  out  of  prison, 
unless  you  promised  to  our  persecutors  that  you  would  commi     he 
detestable*  thing?     And  perhaps  you  have  done  it.''     This  -  related 
by  Epiphanius,  in  the  heresy  of  the  Meletians.     Hence  it  appears 
that  they  are  mistaken  who  affirm,  that  Eusebius  had  sacrificed  to 
idols,  and  that  he  had  been  convicted  of  the  fact  in  the  Tynan  synod. 
For  Potamo  did   not   attest  that  Eusebius   had  sacrificed  to    idols, 
but  only  that  he  was  dismissed  out  of  prison  safe  and  whole;  a  cir- 
cumstance that  favoured  the  malevolent  surmise  of  Potamo.     It  was 
however,  evidently  possible  that  Eusebius  might  have  been  dismissed 
from  confinement  in  a  manner  very  different  from  that  of  Potamo  s 
insinuation.     From  the  words  of  Epiphanius   it  seems  to  be  inferred 
that  Eusebius  bishop  of  Ca^sarea  presided  at  this  synod ;  for  he  adds, 
that  Eusebius  being  previously  affected   in   hearing  the   accusation 
against  him  by  Potamo,  dismissed  the  council.     Yet  by  other  writers 
Z  are  informed,  that  not  Eusebius  bishop  of  C.sarea,  but  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia,  presided  at  the  Tyrian  synod.t 

After  that  council,  all  the  bishops  who  had  assembled  at  Tyre,  re- 
paired, by  the  emperor's  orders,  to  Jerusalem,  to  celebrate  the  conse 

•  That  is,  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  .       t,      ■.■        e  n^^^^^. 

+  Is  it  no  a  possible  case  that  both  presided  1  viz.,  First,  Eusebms  of  C.sar«., 
Jilh  insult  he  sustained  in  the  disparagement  of  his  character  by  Potamo  s 
Snuat  on.  Feeling  then,  that  his  character  stood  arraigned  by  that  xns.nuat  ou 
Ta"  udged  it  expedient  either  to  dismiss  the  council,  or  at  least  to  leave  .to 
t  presidential  Jurisdiction  of  one  less  objectionable  to  Potamo,  v...  to  Eusebiu. 
of  Nicomedia. 


XVI  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

cration  of  the  great  church,  which  Constantine  in  honour  of  Christ 
had  erected  in  that  place.     There  our  Eusebius  graced  the  solemnity, 
by  the  several  sermons  he  delivered.     And  when  the  emperor,  by 
very  strict  letters,  had  summoned  the  bishops  to  his  own  court,  that 
in  his  presence  they  might  give  an  account  of  their  fraudulent  and 
litigious  conduct  towards  Athanasius,  our  Eusebius,  with  five  others, 
went  to  Constantinople,  and  furnished  that  prince  with  a  developement 
of  the  whole  transaction.     Here  also,  in  the  palace,  he  delivered  his 
tricennalian  oration,  which  the  emperor  heard  with  the  utmost  joy,  not 
so  much  on  account  of  any  praises  to  himself,  as  on  account  of  the 
praises  of  God,  celebrated  by  Eusebius  throughout  the  whole  of  that 
oration.     This  oration  was  the  second  delivered  by  Eusebius  in  that 
palace.*     For  he  had  before  made  an  oration  there,  concerning  the 
sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  which  the  emperor  heard  standing ;  nor  could 
he,  though  repeatedly  entreated  by  Eusebius,  be  persuaded  to  sit  in 
the  chair  placed  for  him,t  alleging  that  it  was  fit  that  discourses  con- 
cerning God  should  be  heard  standing. 

How  dear  and  acceptable  our  Eusebius  was  to  Constantine,  may 
be  known  both  from  the  facts  we  have  narrated,  as  well  as  from  many 
other  circumstances.  For  he  both  received  many  letters  from  him, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  books  already  mentioned,  and  was  not  unfre- 
quently  sent  for  to  the  palace,  where  he  was  entertained  at  table,  and 
honoured  with  fxmiliar  conversation.  Constantine,  moreover,  related 
to  our  Eusebius,  the  vision  of  the  cross  seen  by  him  when  on  his 
expedition  against  Maxentius ;  and  showed  to  him,  as  Eusebius  in- 
formsl  us,  the  labarum§  that  he  had  ordered  to  be  made  to  represent 
the  likeness  of  that  cross.  Constantine  also,  committed  to  Eusebius, 
since  he  knew  him  to  be  most  skilful  in  Biblical  knowledge,  the 
care  and  superin tendency  of  transcribing  copies||  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  he  wanted  for  the  accommodation  of  the  churches  he  had  built 
at  Constantinople.  Lastly,  the  book  concerning  the  Feast  of  Easter, 
dedicated  to  him  by  our  Eusebius,  Avas  a  present  to  Constantine,  so 
acceptable,  that  he  ordered  its  immediate  translation  into  Latin ;  and 
by  .letter  entreated  Eusebius,  that  he  would  communicate,  soon  as 

•  According  to  his  own  testimony,  in  his  fourth  Book,  concerning  the  Life  of 
Constantine,  chap.  46. 

f  As  Eusebius  relates  in  the  33d  chapter  of  the  Life  of  Constantine. 

i  Life  of  Constantine,  Hb.  1.  c.  28  &  30.  §  An  imperial  standard. 

B  Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  4.  c.  34  &  35. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  xvii 

possible,  works  of  this  nature,  with  which  he  was  engaged,  to  those 
concerned  in  the  study  of  sacred  literature. 

About  the  same  time,  Eusebius  dedicated  a  small  book  to  the  em- 
peror Constantine,  in  which  was  comprised  his  description  of  the 
Jerusalem  church,  and  of  the  gifts  that  had  been  consecrated  there. 
—Which  book,  together  with  his  tricennalian  oration,  that  he  had 
placed  at  the  close  of  his  Life  of  Constantine,  is  not  now  extant.     At 
the  same  time,  Eusebius  wrote  five  books  against  Marcellus ;  of  which 
the  three  last,  De  Ecclesiastica  Theologia,  he  dedicated  to  Flaccil- 
lus  bishop  of  Antioch.     Flaccillus  entered  on  that  bishopric,  a  little 
before  the  synod  of  Tyre,  which  was  convened  in  the  consulate  of 
Constantius  and  Albinus,  A.  D.  335.     It  is  certain  that  Eusebius,  in 
his  First  Book*  writes  in  express  words,  that  Marcellus  had  been 
deservedly  condemned  by  the  church.     Now  Marcellus  was  first  con- 
demned in  the  synod  held  at  Constantinople,  by  those  very  bishops 
that  had  consecrated  Constantine's  church  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  year 
of  Christ  335,  or,  according  to  Baronius,  336.     Socrates,t  indeed,  ac 
knowledges  only  three  books  written  by  Eusebius  against  Marcellus, 
namely,  those  entitled,  "De  Ecclesiastica  Theologia;"  but  the  whole 
work  by  Eusebius,  against  Marcellus,  comprised  Five  Books.     The 
last  books  written  by  Eusebius,  seem  to  be  the  four  on  the  life  of  Con- 
stantine ;  for  they  were  written  after  the  death  of  that  emperor,  whom 
Eusebius  did  not  long  survive,  since  he  died  about  the  beginning  of 
the  reign  of  Constantius  Augustus,  a  little  before  the  death  of  Con- 
stantine Junior,  which  happened,  according  to  the  testimony  of  So- 
crates' Second  :t  Book,  when  Acindynus  and  Proculus  were  consuls, 
A.  D.  340. 

We  cannot  admit,  what  Scaliger§  has  affirmed,  that  Eusebms's 
books  against  Porphyry,  were  written  under  Constantius,  the  son  of 
Constantine  the  Great,  especially  since  this  is  confirmed  by  the  tes- 
timony of  no  ancient  writer.  Besides,  in  what  is  immediately  after 
asserted  by  Scaliger,  that  Eusebius  wrote  his  threell  last  books  of  the 
Evangelic  Demonstration,  against  Porphyry,  there  is  an  evident  error. 
St.  Jerome  says,  indeed,  that  Eusebius  in  three  volumes,  (that  is,^in 

•  De  Ecclesiastica  Theologia,  chap.  14. 
^  Eccles.  Hist,  book  2.  chap.  20 :  where  see  note  k. 
i  Chap.  4  «fc  .5. 

§  In  his  AnimadveTsions  on  Eusebius,  page  250,  last  edit 
J  Namely,  the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twentieth. 
2* 


^^'^  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twentieth,)  answered  Porphyry,  who 
111  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  of  those  books  which  he  published 
aganist  the  Christians,  had  attempted  to  confute  the  book  of  the 
prophet  Daniel.  St.  Jerome,*  however,  does  not  mean,  as  Scaliger 
thought,  Eusebms's  Books  on  Evangelic  Demonstration,  but  the  books 
he  wrote  agamst  Porphyry,  entitled,  according  to  Photius's  Biblio- 
theca,  ^.f.  u:.y.^..  ..,  v.oxo^..,,  Refutation  and  Defence.  We  are  also 
persuaded  that  Eusebius  wrote  these  books  after  his  Ecclesiastic 
History ;  because  Eusebius,  though  on  other  occasions  he  usually 
refers  to  his  own  works,  does  not  in  the  Sixth  Bookt  of  his  Eccle 
siastic  History,  where  he  quotes  a  notorious  passage  from  Por- 
phyry,! make  any  mention  of  the  books  he  wrote  against  him. 

We  avail  ourselves  of  the  present  opportunity  to  make  some  re 
marks  relative  to  Eusebius's  Ecclesiastic  History,  the  chief  subject 
of  our  present  labour  and  exertions.  Much,  indeed,  had  been  written 
by  our  Eusebius,  both  against  Jews  and  Heathens,  to  the  edification 
of  the  orthodox  and  general  church,  and  in  confirmation  of  the  verity 
of  the  Christian  faith,  nevertheless,  amongst  all  his  books,  his  Eccle- 
siastic History  deservedly  stands  pre-eminent.  For  before  Eusebius, 
many  had  written  in  defence  of  Christianity,  and  had,  by  the  most 
satisfactory  arguments,  refuted  the  Jews  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Hea- 
.  thens  on  the  other,  but  not  one,  before  Eusebius,  had  delivered  to  pos- 
terity a  history  of  ecclesiastic  affairs.  On  which  account,  therefore, 
because  Eusebius,  not  only  was  the  first  to  show  this  example,  but 
has  transmitted  to  us,  what  he  undertook,  in  a  state  so  complete  and 
perfect,  he  is  entitled  to  the  greater  commendation.  Though  many, 
It  is  true,  mduced  by  his  example,  have,  since  his  time,  furnished 
accounts  of  ecclesiastic  affairs,  yet  they  have  not  only  uniformly 
commenced  their  histories  from  the  times  of  Eusebius,  but  have  left 
him  to  be  the  undisputed  voucher  of  the  period  of  which  he  yet  re- 
mains the  exclusive  historian,  and  consequently  he  only  is  entitled  to 
the  epithet  of  the  father  of  ecclesiastic  history. 

By  what  preliminary  circumstances  Eusebius  was  led  to  this  his 
chQf-d'(Buvre,  it  is  not  difficult  to  conjecture.  Having  in  his  Chro- 
nological  Canons  accurately  stated  the  time  of  the  advent  and  passion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  names  of  the  several  bishops  that  had  presided  in 
the  four  principal  churches,  and  of  the  eminent  characters  therein, 
•  In  his  preface  to  his  Commentary  on  Daniel. 
t  Chap.  1 9.  ^  From  Porphyry's  third  book  against  the  Christians. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  xix 

and  having  also  detailed  an  account  of  the  successive  heresies  and 
persecutions,  he  was,  as  it  were,  led  by  insensible  degrees  to  write  a 
history  specially  on  ecclesiastic  aflairs,  to  furnish  a  full  developement 
of  what  had  been  but  briefly  sketched  in  his  Clironological  Canons. 
This,  indeed,  is  expressly  confirmed  by  Eusebius  in  his  preface*  to 
that  work ;  where  he  also  implores  the  forbearance  of  the  candid 
reader,  on  account  of  his  work  being  less  circumstantial,  consequent 
on  his  travelling  in  a  path  before  untrod,  and  his  being  precluded  from 
the  intimations  on  that  subject  of  any  previous  writer.  Though  this, 
it  is  true,  in  the  view  of  some,  may  appear  not  so  much  an  apology, 
as  an  indirect  device  of  acquiring  praise. 

Though  it  is  evident  from  Eusebius's  own  testimony,  that  he  wrote 
his  Ecclesiastic  History,  after  his  Chronological  Canons,  it  is  re- 
markable that  the  twentieth  yeart  of  Constantine  is  a  limit  common  to 
both  those  works.  Nor  is  it  less  singular,  that,  though  the  Nicene 
Council  was  held  in  that  year,:j:  yet  no  mention  is  made  of  it  in  either 
work.  But  in  his  Chronicle,  at  the  fifteenth  year  of  Constantine,  we 
read  that  "  Alexander  is  ordained  the  nineteenth  bishop  of  the  Alex- 
andrian church,  by  whom  Arius  the  presbyter  being  expelled,  joins 
many  to  his  own  impiety.  A  synod,  therefore,  of  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  bishops,  is  convened  at  Nice,  a  city  of  Bithynia,  who  by 
their  agreement  on  the  term  '0A.oou5.0s,  (consubstantial,  or  co-essential) 
suppressed  all  the  devices  of  the  heretics,"  It  is  sufficiently  evident 
that  these  words  were  not  written  by  Eusebius,  but  by  St.  Jerome, 
who  in  Eusebius's  Chronicle  inserted  many  passages  of  his  own.  For, 
not  to  mention  that  this  reference  to  the  Nicene  Council  is  inserted 
in  a  place  with  which  it  has  no  proper  connexion,  who  could  believe 
that  Eusebius  would  thus  write  concerning  Arius,  or  should  have  in- 
serted the  term  'o/^oous.os  in  his  own  Chronicle  ;  which  word,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  state,  was  not  satisfactory  to  him.  Was  it  likely  that 
Eusebius  should,  in  the  Chronicle,  state  thac  three  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen bishops  were  present  at  the  Nicene  synod,  and  in  his  Third§ 
Book  on  the  Life  of  Constantine,  say  expressly  that  something  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty  sat  in  that  council  ?  We  doubt  not,  how- 
ever, that  the  Ecclesiastical  History  was  not  completely  finished  by 
Eusebius  till. some  years  after  the  council  at  Nice.     As  Dionysius  of 

•  Book  1.  chap.  1.  t  i-  ^-  ^-  ^'  3^5. 

^  On  Constantine's  Vicennalia,  that  is,  on  the  twentieth  year  of  his  empire. 
§  Chap.  8. 


XX  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

Halicarnassus,  in  his  Comparison  of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides,  had 
long  since  intimated  to  the  writers  of  histories,  the  propriety  of  ter- 
minating their  narratives  at  the  consummation  of  some  illustrious 
event,  Eusebius  had,  therefore,  it  is  likely,  resolved  to  close  his  his- 
tory with  that  peace,  which  after  Diocletian's  persecution  shone,  as 
he  observes,  like  a  light  from  heaven  upon  the  church ;  on  this  ac- 
count, probably,  he  avoided  mentioning  the  Nicene  synod,  lest  he 
should  be  compelled  to  commence  a  narrative  of  renewed  litigation, 
and  that  too  of  bishops  one  amongst  another.  Now  what  event 
more  illustrious  could  have  been  desired  by  Eusebius,  than  that  re- 
■  pose,  which  after  a  most  sanguinary  persecution,  had  been  restored 
to  the  Christians  by  Constantine ;  when  the  persecutors,  and  Licinius 
being  every  where  extinct,  not  a  fear  of  past  afflictions  could  exist. 
This  epoch,  therefore,  rather  than  that  of  the  Nicene  council,  afford- 
ed the  most  eligible  limit  to  his  Ecclesiastical  History.  For  in  that 
synod,  the  contentions  seemed  not  so  much  appeased  as  renewed ; 
and  that  not  through  any  fault  of  the  synod  itself,  but.  by  the  perti- 
nacity of  those  who  refused  to  acquiesce  in  the  very  salutar}^  decrees 
of  that  venerable  assembly. 

Having  said  thus  much  relative  to  the  life  and  writings  of  Euse 
bins,  it  remains  to  make  some  remarks  in  reference  to  the  soundness 
of  his  religious  faith  and  sentiments.  Let  not  the  reader,  however, 
here  expect  from  us  a  defence,  nor  even  any  opinion  of  our  own,  but 
rather  the  judgment  of  the  church  and  of  the  ancient  fathers  concern- 
ing him.  Wherefore,  certain  points  shall  be  here  premised,  as  pre- 
liminary propositions,  relying  on  which,  we  may  arrive  at  the  greater 
certainty  relative  to  the  faith  of  Eusebius.  As  the  opinions  of  the 
ancients  concerning  Eusebius,  are  various,  since  some  have  termed 
him  a  Catholic,  others  a  heretic,  others  a  Jij-xa.TTor,*  a  person  of  a 
double  tongue,  or  wavering  faith,  it  is  incumbent  on  us  to  inquire  to 
which  opinion  we  should  chiefly  assent.  Of  the  law  it  is  an  inva- 
riable rule,  to  adopt,  in  doubtful  cases,  the  more  lenient  opinion  as 
the  safer  alternative.  Besides,  since  all  the  westerns,  St.  Jerome  ex- 
cepted, have  entertained  honourable  sentiments  relative  to  Eusebius, 
and  since  the  Galilean  church  has  enrolled  t  him  in  the  catalogue  of 
saints,  it  is  questionless  preferable  to  assent  to  the  judgment  of  our 

•  See  Socrates,  lib,  1.  c.  23. 

f  As  may  be  learned  from  Victorius  Aquitanus,  the  Martyrology  of  Usuardus, 
^nd  from  others. 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  xxi 

fatliers,  than  to  that  of  the  eastern  schismatics.  In  short,  whose  au- 
thority ought  to  be  more  decisive  in  tliis  matter  than  that  of  the 
bishops  of  Rome  ?  But  Galesius,  in  his  work  on  the  Two  Natures, 
has  recounted  our  Eusebius  amongst  the  catholic  writers,  and  has 
quoted  two  authorities  out  of  his  books.  Pope  Pelagius,*  too,  terms 
him  the  most  honourable  amongst  historians,  and  pronounces  him  to 
be  free  from  every  taint  of  heresy,  notwithstanding  he  had  highly 
eulogized  heretical  Origen.  Some,  however,  may  say,  that  since  the 
easterns  were  better  acquainted  with  Eusebius,  a  man  of  their  own 
language,  a  preference  should  be  given,  in  this  case,  to  their  judg- 
ment. Even  amongst  these,  Eusebius  does  not  want  those,  So- 
cratest  and  Gelasius  Cyzicenusf  for  example,  who  entertained  a 
favourable  opinion  concerning  him.  But  if  the  judgment  of  the 
Seventh  Oecumenical  Synod  be  opposed  to  any  inclination  in  his  fa- 
vour, our  answer  is  ready.  The  faith  of  Eusebius  was  not  the  sub- 
ject of  that  synod's  debate,  but  the  worship  of  images.  In  order  to 
the  subversion  of  which,  when  the  opponents  that  had  lately  assem- 
bled in  the  imperial  city,  had  produced  evidence  out  of  Eusebius's 
letter  to  Constantia,  and  laid  the  greatest  stress  thereon,  the  fathers 
of  the  Seventh  Synod,  to  invalidate  the  authority  of  that  evidence, 
exclaimed  that  Eusebius  was  an  Arian,  But  this  was  done  merely 
casually,  from  the  impulse  of  the  occasion,  and  hatred  of  the  letter, 
not  advisedly,  or  from  a  previous  investigation  of  the  charge.  They 
produce  some  passages,  it  is  true,  from  Eusebius,  to  insinuate  that  he 
was  favourable  to  the  Arian  hypothesis  ;  but  they  avoid  all  discrimina- 
tion between  what  Eusebius  wrote  prior  to  the  Nicene  Council,  and 
what  he  wrote  afterwards,  which,  questionless,  ought  to  have  been 
done  as  essential  to  a  just  decision  relative  to  Eusebius's  faith.  In 
short,  nothing  written  by  Eusebius  before  that  synod  is  fairly  charge- 
able in  this  respect,  against  him.  Eusebius's  letter  to  Alexander,  con- 
taining his  intercession  with  that  prelate  for  Arius,  was  of  course, 
written  before  that  council.  The  affirmation,  therefore,  of  the  fathers 
of  the  Seventh  Synod,  notwithstanding  it  has  the  semblance  of  the 
highest  authority,  seems  rather  to  have  the  character  of  temerity  and 
premature  judgment,  than  to  be  the  verdict  of  a  synod  derived  from 
a  judicial  investigation  of  the  cause.     The  Greeks  may  assume  the 

*  In  Epist.  Tertia  ad  Eliam  Aqueleiensem  et  alios  Episcopos  Istii. 
■j-  Sec  his  Defence  of  him,  in  book  2.  chap.  21. 
i  De  Synod,  Nicaena,  book  2.  chap.  1, 


xxii  LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS. 

liberty  to  think  as  tliey  please  concerning  Eusebius,  and  to  term  him 
an  Arian,  or  a  favourer  of  that  heresy  ;  but  who  can  patiently  endure 
St.  Jerome,  who,  not  content  with  calling  him  heretic  and  Arian,  fre- 
quently terms  him  the  ring-leader  of  that  faction  ?  Can  he  be  justly 
termed  a  ring-leader  of  the  Arians,  who,  after  the  Nicene  Council, 
always  condemned  their  opinions  ?  Let  his  books  De  Ecclesiastica 
Theologia  be  perused,  which  he  wrote  against  Marcellus  long  after 
the  Nicene  Council ;  and  we  shall  find  what  we  have  affirmed,  that 
he  condemned  those  who  asserted  that  the  Son  of  God  was  made  of 
things  not  existing ;  and  that  there  was  a  time  when  he  existed  not. 
Athanasius,  likewise,  in  his  letter  relative  to  the  decrees  of  the  Nicene 
Council,  attests  the  same  fact  concerning  Eusebius,  in  the  following 
words :  "In  this,  truly,  he  was  unfortunate :  that  he  might  clear  himself, 
however,  of  the  imputation,  he  ever  afterwards  opposed  the  Arians, 
particularly  since  their  denial  of  the  pre-existence  of  the  Son  of  God 
applied  equally  to  his  conception  or  incarnation,"  With  this  testi- 
mony, too,  Eusebius  was  favoured  by  Athanasius,  notwithstanding 
the  personal  diflerences  between  them.  But  St.  Jerome,  who  had  no 
cause  of  enmity  against  Eusebius,  who  had  profited  so  liberally  by 
his  writings,  who  had  translated  his  Chronological  Canon,  and  his 
Book  de  Locis  Hebraicis,  into  Latin,  brands,  notwithstanding,  Euse- 
bius with  a  calumny,  which  even  his  most  malignant  enemies  never 
fastened  on  him.  The  reason  of  this  we  cannot  conjecture,  except 
it  is,  that  St.  Jerome,  in  consequence  of  his  enmity  to  Origen,  per- 
sisted in  an  unqualified  persecution  of  all  that  maintained  his  opinions, 
particularly  Eusebius. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  do  not  conceal  the  fact,  that  Eusebius, 
though  he  cannot  be  deservedly  esteemed  a  ring-leader  of  the  Arian 
faction,  yet  after  the  Nicene  Council,  was  perpetually  conversant  with 
the  principals  of  that  party,  and,  together  with  them,  opposed  the 
catholic  bishops,  as  Eustathius,  and  Athanasius,  the  most  strenuous 
advocates  for  the  adoption  of  the  term  'o/^oouc-.oj.  Though  Eusebius 
always  asserted  the  eternity  of  the  Son  of  God,  against  the  Arians, 
yet  in  his  disapproval  of  that  word,*  he  seems  censurable.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  never  made  use  of  that  term,  either  in  his  books  against 
Marcellus,  or  in  his  orations  against  Sabellius.  Nay,  in  his  Second 
Book  against  Sabellius,  he  expressly  declares,  that  since  that  word  is 
not  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  not  satisfactory  to  him.     On  this  occasion, 

•    Viz.   'o/iOOMd-lOl, 


LIFE  OF  EUSEBIUS.  xxm 

he  sjjeaks  to  the  following  effect :  "  As  not  inquiring  into  truths 
which  admit  of  investigation,  is  indolence,  so  prying  into  others, 
where  the  scrutiny  is  inexpedient,  is  audacity.  Into  what  truths  ought 
we  then  to  search  ?  Those  which  we  find  recorded  in  the  Scriptures. 
Bui  what  we  do  not  find  recorded  there,  let  us  not  search  after.  For 
had  the  knowledge  of  them  been  incumbent  on  us,  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  doubtless  have  placed  them  there."  Shortly  after,  he  says : 
"  Let  us  not  hazard  ourselves  in  such  a  risk,  but  speak  safely  ;  and 
let  not  any  thing  that  is  written  be  blotted  out."  And  in  the  end  of 
his  oration,  he  thus  expresses  himself:  "  Speak  what  is  written,  and 
the  strife  will  be  abandoned."  Li  which  passages,  Eusebius,  no 
doubt,  alludes  to  the  word  "o^oouinos. 

Finally,  we  now  advert  to  the  testimonies  of  the  ancients  concern- 
ing Eusebius.  Here  one  thing  is  to  be  observed,  namely,  however 
various  the  opinions  of  men  have  been,  relative  to  the  accuracy 
of  the  religious  sentiments  of  Eusebius,  all  however,  have  unani- 
mously esteemed  him  as  a  person  of  the  most  profound  learning.  To 
this  we  have  to  mention  one  solitary  exception,  Joseph  Scaliger,  who 
within  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  impelled  by  the  current  of  teme- 
rity, and  relish  for  vituperation,  endeavoured  to  filch  from  Eusebi-us 
those  literary  honours,  which  even  his  adversaries  never  dared  to  im- 
pugn. Scaliger's  words,*  we  have  inserted  amongst  the  testimonies 
of  the  ancients,  not  as  any  proof  of  our  value  of  his  judgment  on 
this  point,  but  for  the  accommodation  of  those  desirous  of  knowing 
them,  and  with  the  design  that  his  unwarrantable  detraction  might 
meet  with  the  exposure  it  deserved  ;  who  having  resolved  to  write  a 
commentary  on  the  Chronological  Canon  of  Eusebius,  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  arraign  St.  Jerome  himself,  because  he  speaks  of  Eusebius  as 
a  most  learned  character.  On  Scaliger's  opinion,  we  had  at  first  de- 
termined to  bestow  a  more  ample  refutation ;  but  this  we  shall  defer, 
until  more  leisure  on  the  one  hand,  or  a  more  urgent  claim  on  the 
part  of  the  reader,  on  the  other,  shall  again  call  our  attention  to  the 
subject.  • 

•  See  Scpliger's  Elench.  Trihceres.  chap.  27 ;  and  book  6  de  Emend.  Temp, 
chap.  1,  about  the  end :  and  his  Animadversions  on  Eusebius's  Chronicle,  page  8. 


^ 


PREFACE  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR. 


When  the  proposition  was  started,  to  issue  a  new  translation 
of  the  present  work,  the  question  no  doubt  frequently  arose,  Cui 
bono  ?  Have  we  not  ecclesiastical  histories  enough,  and  do  not 
these  give  us  all  thg  information  that  we  can  reasonably  expect, 
presented  too  in  a  form  and  style  which  is  not  likely  to  be  sur- 
passed by  any  age?  Many  may  here  have  thought  of  the  judi- 
cious and  learned  Mosheim,  or  of  the  popular  Milner,  some  per- 
haps of  the  voluminous  Schroeckh,  and  Fleury,*  whose  researches 
into  primitive  ages  have  condensed  the  labours  of  their  predeces- 
sors. Some,  indeed,  who,  in  distinct  and  separate  worlcs,  have 
confined  their  histories  to  the  three  first  centuries  of  the  church, 
as  Mosheim  in  his  Commentary  de  Rebus  Christianis  ante  Con- 
stantinum,  Walchii  Historia  Ecclesiastica  Novi  Testament!,  and 
others  of  less  notoriety,  might  seem  to  preclude  the  necessity  of 
any  additional  aids,  or  of  recurring  to  the  fountains  whence  they 
drew.  But  whatever  be  the  superiority  of  modern  ecclesiastical 
history,  however  justly  it  may  represent  the  times  recorded,  it 
cannot  give  us  the  spirit  of  these  times  without  the  authors  from 
which  it  is  derived.  It  cannot,  therefore,  supersede  the  necessity 
of  examining  the  same  ground  in  the  express  statement  of  an 
original  or  primitive  writer. 

It  will  not,  therefore,  be  pronounced  an  indifference  to  the  supe- 
riof  literature  of  our  own  age,  when  we  hold  up  to  view  a  produc- 
tion of  ages  long  passed  away.  Every  age  has  its  distinctive 
features,  its  advantages  as  well  as  defects ;  ours  may,  without  arro- 
gance, claim  the  character  of  more  systematic  precision  in  every  de- 
partment of  learning.  It  has  been  reserved  for  this  age,  under 
Providence,  by  whose  operations  the  human  mind  has  attained  an 
unprecedented  expansion,  to  reduce  the  accumulated  materials  of 

•  SchrcBckh  has  written  an  Ecclesiastical  History  in  forty-two  octavo,  and  Fleuiy 
in  twenty  quarto  volumes ;  the  former  in  German,  the  latter  in  French. 
3  XXV 


XXVI  PREFACE. 

the  past,  to  their  correlative  positions,  to  compress  them  into  space 
that  brings  them  more  within  our  grasp,  and  by  rejecting  the 
superfluous,  and  digesting  the  essential,  to  enable  us  to  traverse 
the  vast  ground  of  human  attainment  with  pleasure  and  profit. 

The  author,  however,  whose  history  is  here  presented  to  the 
English  reader,  in  order  to  be  duly  estimated,  must  not  be  mea- 
sured by  a  standard  like  this.  To  be  appreciated,  he  must  be 
measured  by  his  own  times.  Neither  are  we  to  expect  of  him 
the  condensed  proportions,  the  judicious  selections,  and  the  com- 
prehensive distribution  of  materials,  that  mark  the  productions 
of  the  scientific  historian ;  nor  was  it  the  intention  of  our  author. 
If  we  may  be  allowed  to  judge  from  the  work  itself,  his  object 
appears  more  like  furnishing  the  materials,  which  himself  or  the 
future  historian  should  handle  with  a  more  masterly  hand  or  a 
more  enlarged  view.  The  work,  therefore,  abounds  with  ex- 
tracts from  the  writers  that  flourished  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
church,  in  which  our  author  presents  either  a  striking  event,  ex- 
pressions of  sentiments  or  doctrine,  to  illustrate  the  religious  as- 
pect of  times  and  places,  and  by  the  express  testimony  of  another, 
perhaps  often  obviates  the  odium  which  would  devolve  upon  his 
own  narrative.  Hence  the  history  contains  rather  accounts  of 
particular  churches,  than  a  history  of  the  church  generally,  and 
is  more  like  detached  incidents  scattered  in  memoirs  of  the  in- 
dividuals that  successively  rise  and  pass  away  before  us. 

Our  author,  as  the  first  that  professedly  entered  the  ground,  has 
been  justly  called  the  father  of  ecclesiastical  history.  Priority  gives 
him  a  just  claim  to  the  title.  If  his  performance  be  examined  by 
all  the  tests,  which  would  be  applied  to  the  scientific  historians 
this  praise  would  indeed  be  awarded  to  a  prominent  name  of 
modern  date.  But  Eusebius  is  the  first,  and  the  only  historian 
of  the  church  bordering  on  primitive  times.  No  just  parallel 
therefore  can  be  drawn  between  the  Ecclesiastical  History  here 
translated,  and  the  scientific  labours  of  the  present  day.  The 
business  of  the  modern  historian,  is  to  survey,  with  comprehensive 
eye,  to  digest,  to  reduce  to  proper  dimensions,  and  with  a  skilful 
hand  to  mould,  his  materials  into  the  form  of  pleasing  yet  faithful 
narration ;  that  of  the  primitive  historian,  was  rather  to  trans- 


PREFACE.  xxvii 

cribe  what  was  most  important  from  the  existing  documents  of 
the  day. 

Our  author  has  the  praise  even  from  the  hypercritical  Scahger, 
of  being  a  man  v/ho  had  made  extensive  use  of  the  historical 
sources  ot  his  day.  Si  erudltissimus  vocandus,  says  he,  qui  mulla 
legit,  sane  nemo  illi  hanc  laudem  invidere  potest.  This  writer  does 
not,  indeed,  allow  him  all  the  qualifications  of  an  historian,  to  use 
his  own  words,  judicium  cum  multa  lectione,  but  the  selections 
that  he  has  left  to  posterity  are  nevertheless  invaluable.  He  was 
at  least  faithful  to  his  purpose,  by  culling,  as  he  himself  expresses 
it,  (og  avex  ?.oyLXCdv  T^i^cdvov)  the  appropriate  extracts  from  an- 
cient writers. 

In  making  this  selection,  we  have  only  to  regret  that  he  did 
not  give  us  more  of  the  distinguished  writers  of  those  ages,  and 
thus  supplied,  in  some  measure,  the  loss  of  their  works.  In  the 
testimony  thus  preserved,  however;  we  have  a  body  of  evidence, 
both  to  the  existing  events  of  the  day,  and  to  the  truth  of  those 
Scriptures  which,  without  the  formality  of  a  regular  system  of 
proof,  carries  its  conviction  to  the  mind.  Whether  this  testimony 
appeared  in  a  plain  or  polished  style,  whether  simple  or  embel- 
lished, the  great  object  of  our  author  is  the  evidence  that  it  fur- 
nishes, and  which  therefore  he  gives  us,  as  one  who,  by  the  ad- 
vantages of  his  situation,  whilst  Christianity  was  yet  in  the  fresh- 
ness of  its  morning  sun,  could  arrest  and.seize  some  of  its  fleeting 
images,  ere  they  were  erased  from  the  memory  of  man. 

And  in  order  to  let  these  images  appear,  Eusebius  with  his  tes- 
timony must  be  suffered  to  speak  for  himself  His  history,  inde- 
pendently of  its  practical  utility  and  its  literary  store,  is  unques- 
tionably the  most  interesting  and  the  most  important  work  that 
appeared  in  the  first  ages  of  the  church.  A  work  adapted  to  all 
ages  and  classes,  to  furnish  materials  of  reflection  to  the  man  of 
letters,  to  supply  the  retired  Christian  with  examples  of  unreserved 
devotion  and  sacrifice  to  duty,  and  to  furnish  all,  some  original 
views  of  primitive  times,  at  the  hand  of  one  who  may  be  pro- 
nounced a  primitive  man. 

In  undertaking  the  present  work,  the  translator  was  influenced 
by  a  firm  persuasion  of  its  utility,  and  the  necessity  of  a  new  ver- 


xxvui  PREFACE. 

sion.  A  more  general  circulation  of  primitive  works,  whether 
by  copious  extracts,  or  b}'  entire  translations,  appears  to  be  one 
of  the  best  means  at  least,  of  giving  a  primitive  tone  to  modern 
Christianity.  And  though  we  might  not  conceive  ourselves  bound 
to  acknowledge  every  thing  as  biblical,  merely  because  it  was 
primitive,  yet  were  it  possible  that  we  could  ascertain  the  real 
state  of  Christianity  in  every  respect  as  it  was  then,  doubtless  it 
would  prove  a  salutary  check  upon  many  of  our  errors.* 

To  show  that  we  are  not  singular  on  this  subject,  we  here  give 
the  sentiments  of  a  foreign  journal,  which  will  never  be  regarded 
as  enthusiastic  by  those  who  are  at  all  acquainted  with  its  cha- 
racter. "  Independently  of  the  importance  of  studying  the  fa- 
thers with  respect  to  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical  history,  and  even 
with  respect  to  exegesis,  the  perusal  of  their  writings  serves, 
among  other  objects,  to  awaken  and  excite  religious  views  and 
ideas  in  the  minds  of  the  young,  much  more  than  any  course 
of  instruction,  however  logically  exact,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  of  hermeneutics.  And  we  are  convinced  that  the  ex- 
cessive abuse  that  has  been  of  late  made  of  manuals,  journals, 
magazines,  &c.,  for  clergymen,  which  for  the  last  twenty  years, 
and  longer,  has  been  the  order  of  the  day  in  many  places,  and  by 
which  the  spirit  of  young  clergymen  has  been  warped  and  per- 
verted to  indolence  and  carelessness,  would  not  have  made  such 
inroads,  if,  together  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  should  un- 
quevtionably  form  the  basis  of  every  discourse,  the  study  of  the 
fathers  had  also  been  zealously  encouraged."-|- 

It  was  well  observed  by  a  modern  philosopher,  that  if  every 
age  had  had  its  Aristotle,  philosophy  would  long  since  have 
reached  its  climax  ;  and  we  may  observe  with  regard  to  ecclesi- 

•  The  importance  of  a  more  general  acquaintance  with  the  opinions  and  doc- 
trines prevalent  in  the  church,  before  the  Council  of  Nice,  is  obvious.  No  attempt, 
however,  has  as  yet  been  made  to  bring  them  into  such  general  circulation,  that  all 
could  have  and  read  them,  laity  as  well  as  clergy.  With  a  view  to  supply  this  de- 
fect, among  others,  the  translator  has  projected  a  publication  to  appear  periodically, 
embracing  copious  extracts  from  the  fathers  on  doctrine,  and  dissertations  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Archaeology  of  Christianity,  with  the  title  Repertory  of  Primitive 
Thcolog-y.     i^ee  the  Prospectus  of  this  publication. 

t  Hall.  Allgem.  Lit.  Zeitung.  No.  10.  1817. 


PREFACE.  XXIX 

astical  history,  that  if  every  period  in  primitive  times  had  had 
its  Eusebius,  we  should,  besides  his  own,  be  in  possession  of  an 
amount  of  ecclesiastical  information  at  this  day,  that  would  sub- 
serve the  most  salutary  purposes.  What  our  author,  however, 
has  secured  from  the  wrecks  of  time,  only  leaves  us  room  to  re- 
gret what  we  have  not.  As  to  the  matter,  therefore,  which 
the  history  of  Eusebius  embraces,  no  apology  is  necessary  for 
presenting  this  to  the  public.  It  belongs  to  the  archoeology  of 
Christianity ;  and  therefore,  to  Christians  at  least  must  appear  in 
an  interesting  light. 

As  to  the  manner  in  which  this  is  presented,  various  opinions 
will  doubtless  prevail.  The  critic  will  form  his  opinion  of  Euse- 
bius from  the  original,  and  there  he  will  perceive  what  cannot 
always  be  made  to  appear  in  a  translation.  One  thing  will  strike 
him  on  the  first  survey,  that  the  style  of  an  ecclesiastical  writer, 
three  centuries  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  is  far  different  from  the 
style  that  prevailed  three  centuries  before,  and  that  the  Greek 
authors,  in  the  age  of  Constantino,  are  not  the  authors  of  the  age 
of  Alexander.  Our  Eusebius  is  not  without  his  beauties,  but 
they  are  so  rarely  scattered,  that  we  can  hardly  allow  him  an 
eminent  rank,  as  a  writer,  although  his  subject  may  be  offered 
as  his  apology.  His  use  of  words  is  sometimes  without  sufficient 
precision,  which  subjects  him  occasionally  to  ambiguity,  and  his 
sentences  are  sometimes  so  involved  as  to  require  the  hand  of 
critical  dissection.  His  periods,  too,  are  sometimes  of  enormous 
length,  and  by  their  copious  fulness  incline  much  to  the  pleonastic 
and  hyperbolical.  We  are  not  here  to  expect  the  uniform  suavity 
of  an  Herodotus,  the  terse  brevity  of  a  Thucydides,  though  we 
may  occasionally  meet  with  features  that  would  not  be  over- 
looked as  elegant  even  in  these  fathers  of  history.  From  the 
great  variety  of  authors  that  he  quotes,  our  author  indeed,  could 
not  aim  at  the  same  kind  of  excellence,  neither  are  his  quota- 
tions from  others  like  those  of  Plutarch,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and 
others,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  embellishment  or  illustration,  but 
for  positive  information  ;  and,  therefore,  they  assume  all  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  plain  reference  to  authority.  In  s.  work  so  unosten- 
tatious, it  would  be  absurd  to  measure  our  author  by  a  standard 
3* 


XXX  PREFACE. 

he  never  adopted,  as  a  production,  which  hke  those  of  the  fathers 
of  history,  should  contend  for  the  prize  as  a  hterary  performance. 
The  only  part  of  the  work  that  could  perhaps  aspire  to  this 
honour,  is  contained  in  the  last  book,  where  he  is  altogether  the 
panegyrist,  and  where  he  has  left  us,  perhaps,  what  may  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  his  most  elaborate,  if  not  one  of  his  happiest 
performances  as  an  orator. 

Whether  the  present  translator  has  succeeded  in  presenting  his 
author  to  the  public  in  a  costume  that  shall  appear  worthy  of  the 
original,  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  others.  He  is  not  so  con- 
fident, as  to  presume  his  labour  is  here  immaculate,  and  a  more 
frequent  revision  of  the  work  may  suggest  improvements  which 
have  thus  far  escaped  him.  Some  allowances  are  also  due  to  a 
work  like  this,  which  may  not  obtain  in  those  of  a  different  de- 
scription. The  translator  does  not  stand  upon  the  same  ground 
as  one  who  renders  a  work  of  elegance  and  taste,  from  profane 
antiquity.  The  latter  leaves  more  scope  for  the  display  of  genius 
and  taste.  The  great  object  of  the  former  is  to  give  a  faithful 
transcript  of  his  author's  statement,  that  the  reader  may  derive, 
if  possible,  the  same  impression  that  he  would  from  the  original, 
in  case  it  were  his  vernacular  language.  He  is  not  at  liberty 
to  improve  his  author,  whatever  may  be  the  occasional  sugges- 
tions of  elegance  or  taste,  for  there  is  scarcely  any  such  improve- 
ment but  what  involves  the  fidelity  of  the  version.  The  more 
experienced  reader  and  critic  may,  perhaps,  discover  instances 
where  the  translator  might  perhaps  have  been  more  easy,  with- 
out sacrificing  much  of  the  meaning;  and  the  present  version  is 
not  without  passages  where  perhaps  a  little  liberty  might  have 
obviated  an  apparent  stifl^ness  in  the  style.  But  the  translator 
has  some  times  preferred  the  latter,  to  what  appeared  a  sacrifice 
of  the  sense.* 

The  office  of  a  translator,  like  that  of  a  lexicographer,  is  an 
ungrateful  office.  Men  who  have  no  conception  of  the  requi- 
sites for  such  a  task,  who  measure  it  by  the  same  rough  standard 

*  Among  some  ofthe  apparent  anomalies  of  the  translation,  may  perhaps  be  num- 
bered many  of  the  passages  from  Scripture.  It  will  be  recollected  these  are  trans- 
lated from  our  author,  who  quotes  the  Alexandrian  version. 


PREFACE.  XXXI 

that  they  do  a  piece  of  manual  labour,  are  apt  to  suppose  he  has 
nothing  to  do  but  to  travel  on  from  word  to  word,  and  that  it 
amounts  at  last  to  scarcely  more  than  a  transcription  of  what  is 
already  written  in  his  own  mind.  In  the  estimate  which  is  thus 
made,  there  is  little  credit  given,  for  the  necessary  adaptation 
of  the  style  and  phraseology  to  tiiat  of  the  original.  No  allow- 
ance for  that  degree  of  judgment,  which  the  interpreter  must  con- 
stantly exercise  in  order  to  make  his  version  tell  what  its  original 
says.  And  yet,  with  all  this,  there  is  generally  discrimination 
enough  to  mark  what  may  be  happily  expressed ;  but  by  a  sin- 
gular perversion,  such  merit  is  sure  to  be  assigned  to  the  original 
work,  whilst  the  defects  are  generally  charged  to  the  account  of 
the  translator.  Some,  ignorant  of  the  limits  of  the  translator's 
office,  even  expect  him  to  give  perfection  to  his  author's  deficien- 
cies, and  if  he  fails  in  this,  he  is  in  danger  of  having  them  heaped 
upon  himself. 

To  preclude  any  unwarrantable  expectations,  the  translator 
does  not  pretend  to  more  in  the  present  work,  than  to  give  a 
faithful  transcript  of  the  sense  of  his  author.  Occasionally,  he 
thinks  he  has  expressed  that  sense  with  more  perspicuity  than  his 
original,  and  wherever  the  ambiguity  seemed  to  justify  it,  it  has 
been  done,  not  with  a  view  to  improve  his  author,  but  to  prevent 
mistaking  his  meaning. 

The  present  version  is  from  the  accurate  Greek  text  published 
by  Valesius,*  a  learned  civilian  of  the  Galilean  church.  The 
most  noted  Latin  versions  besides  that  of  Valesius,  are  those 
of  Rufiiuis,  Musculus,  Christophorson,  and  Grinoeus.  Curterius 
also  published  a  translation,  but  it  is  rather  a  revision  of  Christo- 
phorson. 

Stroth  among  the  Germans,!  and  Cousin  among  the  French, 
appear  to  be  the  latest  that  have  given  versions  in  the  modern 
languages.  The  first  translation  in  English  was  made  by  Han- 
mer,  1584,  which  passed  through  five  editions.  A  translation  by 
T.  Shorting  vvas  published  more  than  a  century  afterwards,  and 

•  The  Itest  edition  of  Valesius  is  that  published  at  Cambridge  by  Reading— the 
edition  used  in  the  present  work. 

\  There  is  also  an  abridged  translation  in  German,  in  Rot-sler's  Bibliothek  der 
Kircbcnva3ter. 


xxxii  ^  PREFACE. 

this  last,  witii  the  exception  of  an  abridgment  by  Parker,  is  the 
best  translation  hitherto  extant  in  the  English  language. 

The  present  translator  originally  contemplated  merely  a  revi- 
sion or  improvement  of  the  last  English  version,  but  a  slight  ex- 
amination will  satisfy  any  one,  that  such  labour  would  be  equi- 
valent to  that  of  an  original  translation  itself,  whilst  it  could  at 
best  present  little  better  than  a  mutilated  aspect.  .  The  present, 
therefore,  is  a  version  entirely  new.  It  has  been  finished  in 
the  midst  of  other  vocations,  and  the  author  expected  to  have 
brougiit  it  to  a  state  of  readiness,  for  the  press,  before  or  about 
the  beginning  of  the  past  winter.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  work  he  anticipated  a  period  of  leisure,  which  would  have 
enabled  him  to  meet  this  expectation  fully.  But  this  period  of 
expected  leisure  was  absorbed  by  care  and  solicitude,  amid  sick- 
ness in  his  family,  whilst  his  own  health  was  but  little  calculated 
for  the  necessary  effort. 

It  was  one  of  the  translator's  original  intentions  to  make  the 
work  more  useful  by  the  addition  of  many  notes.  Eusebius 
admits  of  a  constant  commentary,  and  there  are  some  parts  of 
the  work,  which  besides  mere  illustration,  require  a  separate  dis- 
cussion. Valesius  has  interspersed  notes,  which  are  more  ex- 
tensive than  the  whole  work.  They  are  mostly  verbal  criti- 
cisms, and  refer  to  the  various  readings  of  the  Greek  text,  and 
as  such  have  but  little  interest  for  the  general  reader.  Who- 
ever wishes  to  consult  these,  will  find  the  most  of  them  trans- 
lated in  Shorting's  Eusebius.  The  few  notes  that  are  scattered 
through  the  following  pages,  are  by  the  present  translator.  He 
was  diverted  from  his  original  plan  of  commenting  on  his  author, 
partly  by  an  apprehension  of  swelling  the  work ;  chiefly  however, 
by  a  conviction  that  the  time  under  existing  circumstances  would 
be  better  employed  in  a  more  diligent  revision,  and  lastly,  because 
he  contemplates  a  prosecution  of  the  author's  historical  works, 
in  which  abundant  room  and  materials  will  be  furnished  for  this 
purpose.  In  the  mean  time,  the  work  is  committed  to  tlie  hands 
of  the  public,  and  in  the  quaint  but  expressive  words  of  the 
oldest  English  translator  of  Eusebius :  "  If  aught  be  well  done, 
give  the  praise  to  God,  let  the  pains  be  the  translator's,  and  the 
profit  the  reader's." — Hanmer, 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I.— Pages  13—47. 


Page 


13 


-     15 


IS 


21 


25 


Chapter  I.— Subject  of  the  work, 

Chap.  II. — Summary  view  of  the 
pre-existence  and  divinity  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 

Reasons  why  the  gospel  was  not 
proclaimed  sooner, 

Chap.  III.— The  name  Jesus,  as 
also  that  of  Christ,  was  both  known 
and  honoured  from  ancient  times,  by 
the  inspired  prophets, 

Chap.  IV. — The  reUgion  announced 
by  Christ  among  all  nations,  was  nei- 
ther unexpacted  nor  strange,       -     - 

Chap,  v.— The  times  of  our  Sa- 
viour's manifestation  among  men,    - 

Chap.  VI.— About  the  time  of  our 
Lord,  agreeably  to  prophecy,  those 
rulers  ceased  that  had  formerly  go- 
verned the  nation  of  tlie  Jews  by  re- 
gular succession ;  and  Herod  was  the 
first  foreigner  that  reigned  over  them,  29 

Chap.  VII.— On  the  discrepancy 
which  is  supposed  to  exist  in  the  gos- 
pels,  respecting    the    genealogy    of 

Christ, 

Chap.  VIII.  —  Herod's  cruelty 
against  the  infants,  and  his  wretched 
end, 35 

Chap.  IX.— Of  the  times  of  Pilate,  38 

Chap.  X.— The  high  priests  of 
the  Jews,  under  whom  Christ  promul- 
gated his  doctrines,       -----     39 

Chap.  XI. — The  testimonies  re- 
specting John  the  Baptist  and  Christ,  41 

Chap.  XII.— Of  the  disciples  of 
our  Lord, ^2 

Chap.  XIII. — Narrative  respecting 
the  prince  of  Edessa, 43 


Page 
fected,  when  informed  by  Pilate  re- 
specting Christ, 51 

Chap.  III. — How  the  Christian 
doctrine  spread  throughout  the  whole 
world, 52 

Chap.  IV.— Caius  (Caligula)  after 
the  death  of  Tiberius,  ai)pointed 
Agrippa  king  of  the  Jews,  after  pu- 
nishing Herod  with  perpetual  exile,      53 

Chap.  V. — Philo  was  sent  on  an 
embassy  to  Caius,  in  behalf  of  the 


54 


31 


BOOK  IL— Pages  48—81. 

Chapter  I.— The  course  pursued 
bv  the  apostles  after  the  ascension  of 
Christ, 48 

Chap.  II.— How  Tiberius  was  af- 


Chap.  VI. — What  evils  overwhelm- 
ed the  Jews,  after  their  presumption 
against  Christ, 55 

Chap.  VII.— How  Pilate  destroyed 
himself, -57 

Chap.  Vin.— The  famine  that 
happened  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  -    ib. 

Chap.  IX.— The  martyrdom  of  the 
apostle  James,    -------58 

Ciiap.  X. — Herod  Agrippa  perse- 
cuting the  apostles,  immediately  ex- 
perienced the  divine  judgment,  -     -     59 

Chap.  XI. — Concerning  the  im- 
postor Theudas  and  his  followers,    -     61 

Chap.  XII. — Helen,  queen  of  the 
Osrhoenians, -     -     ib. 

Chap.  XIII.— Simon  Magus,  -     -     62 

Chap.  XIV.— The  preaching  of 
Peter  in  the  city  of  Rome,     -     -     -     63 

Chap.  XV.— The  gospel  according 
to  Mark, 64 

Chap.  XVI.— Mark  first  proclaim- 
ed Christianity  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Egypt, -     65 

Chap.  XVII.— The  account  given 
by  Philo  respecting  the  Ascetics  of 
Egypt, 66 

Chap.  XVIII.— The  books  of  Philo 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  -     -     -     70 

Chap.  XIX.— The  calamity  which 
bcfel  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  on  the 
day  of  the  passover,     -----     72 

Chap.  XX.— The  deeds   done   at 
Jerusalem  in  the  reign  of  Nero,       -    ib. 
xxxiii 


CONTENTS. 


Page; 


Chap.  XXI. — The  Egyptian  men- 
tioned in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  - 

Chap.  XXII.— Paul  being  sent  pri- 
soner from  Judea  to  Rome,  after  his 
defence,  was  absolved  from  all  crime, 

Chap.  XXIII. — The  martyrdom  of 
James,  who  was  called  the  brother  of 
the  Lord, 75'our  Lord, 

Chap.  XXIV. — Annianus  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria, a.tcr  Mark,      -.-... 

Chap.  XXV. — The  persecution 
under  Nero,  in  which  Paul  and  Peter 
were  honoured  with  martyrdom  in 
the  cause  of  religion  at  Rome,    -     - 

Chap.  XXVI. — The  Jews  were 
afflicted  with  innumerable  evils,  and 
finally  commenced  a  war  with  the 
Romans,    -.-.--... 


Paw 


79 


ib. 


BOOK  III.— Pages  82—127. 

Chapter  I. — The  parts  of  the 
world  where  Christ  was  preached  by 
the  apostles,  ---.-... 

Chap.  II.— The  first  that  presided 
over  the  church  at  Rome,       ... 

Chap.  III.— Of  the  Epistles  of  the 
apostles,  -.-...... 

Chap.  IV. — The  first  succession  of 
the  apostles, 

Chap.  V. — The  last  siege  of  the 
Jews  after  Christ, 85 

Chap.  VI. — The  famine  which  op. 
pressed  the  Jews,    --.... 

Chap.  VII. — The  predictions  of 
Christ, 

Chap.  VIII.— The  signs  that  pre- 
ceded the  war,  ....... 

Chap.  IX.— Of  Josephus  and  the 
works  he  has  left, 96 

Chap.  X. — The  manner  in  which 
Josephus  mentions  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures,      .........97 

Chap.  XI. — Simeon  ruled  the 
church  of  Jerusalem  after  James,     .     99 

Chap.  XII. — Vespasian  commands 
the  descendants  of  David  to  be  sought,  ib. 

Chap.  XIII. — Anencletus,  the  se- 
cond bishop  of  Rome, 100 

_  Chap.  XIV. — Avilius,  the  second 

bishop  of  Alexandria, n,, 

_  Chap.    XV.— Clement,   the   third 
bishop  of  Rome, ib. 

Chap.  XVI.— The  Epistle  of  Cle 
ment, 


Chap.  XVII.— The  persecution  of 

73  the  Christians  under  Domitian,  -     -  101 
I     Chap.  XVIII.— Of  John  the  apos- 
tle, and  the  Revelation,      -     -     .     .    ib. 

74  Chap.  XIX. — Domitian  commands 
jthe  posterity  of  David  to  be  slain,    -  102 

Chap.  XX.— Of  the   relatives   of 

ib. 

\     Chap.   XXI.— Cerdon,    the    third 
bishop  of  Alexandria,       .     .     .     .  104 

Chap.  XXII. — Ignatius,  the  second 
bishop  of  Antioch, ib. 

Chap.  XXIII. — Narrative  respect- 
ing the  apostle  John,    -     ....    if,. 

Chap.  XXIV.— The  order  of  the 
Gospels, 107 

Chap.  XXV.— The  sacred  Scrip- 
tures acknowledged  as  genuine,  and 
81  those  that  are  not, 110 

Chap.  XXVI. — Menander  the  im- 
postor,       Ill 

Chap.  XXVII.— The  heresy  of  the 
Ebionites, 112 

Chap.  XXVIIL— Cerinthus  the 
Heresiarch,    ........113 

Chap.  XXIX. — Nicolaus  and  his 
followers,      ---....     -114 

Chap,  XXX.— The  apostles  that 
lived  in  marriage,   ----.-115 

Chap.  XXXI.— The  death  of  John 
and  I'hihp, 116 

Chap.  XXXII.— The  martyrdom 
of  Simeon,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,       .  117 

Chap.  XXXIII,— Trajan  forbids 
the  Christians  to  be  sought  after,     -  119 

Chap.  XXXIV.— Euarestus,  the 
fourth  bishop  of  the  church  at  Rome,  120 

Chap.  XXXV,— Justus,  the  third 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,     .....    jj. 

Chap,  XXXVI.— The  epistles  of 
Ignatius, j^. 

Chap.  XXXVII.— The  preaching 
evangelists  that  were  yet  living  in 
that  age, 123 

Chap.  XXXVIII.— The  epistle  of 
Clement,  and  those  that  are  falsely 
ascribed  to  him,       ....._  124 

Chap.  XXXIX.— The  writings  of 
Papias, ,-6. 


BOOK  IV.— Pages  128-167. 


Chapter  I.— The  bishops  of  Rome 
and  Alexandria,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan,  128 
Chap.  II — The  calamities  of  the 
101 1  Jews  about  this  time,     -    -    .    _    .   j^ 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Chap.  XXVI.— Of  Melito,  and  the 
circumstances  he  records,       -     -     -  162 

Chap.  XXVII.— Of  ApolUnaris 
bishop  of  Hierapolis, 1C5 

Chap.  XXVIIL— Of  Musanus  and 
his  works, -    -     -    ib. 

Chap.  XXIX.— The  heresy  of  Ta- 
tianus, '"• 

Chap.  XXX.— Of  Bardesanes,  the 
Syrian,  and  the  works  of  his  extant,   167 

BOOK  v.— Pages  168—216. 
Chapter  I. — The  number  and  suf- 
ferings of  those  that  suffered  for  the 

faith  in  Gaul, -     -  169 

Chap.  II. — Those  that  had  fallen 
away,  kindly  restored  by  the  pious 

martyrs, 180 

Chap.  III. — The  vision  that  ap- 
peared to  Attains  the  martyr,  in    a 

'dream, 182 

Xomne, 137  j     Chap.  IV.— The  martrys  commend 

Chap     XL— The    heresiarchs    of        Irenoeus  in  their  epistles,  -     -     -     -   183 

these  times, »'6-!     Chap.  V.-God  sent  rain  from  hea- 

Chap.  XII.— The  apology  of  Jus-        jven  to  Marcus  Aurehus,  the  emperor, 

tin,  addressed  to  Antoninus,  -     -     -   ]  39  at  the  prayers  of  our  brethren,    -     -   184 

Chap.  XIII.— The  epistle  of  Anto-  Chap.  Vl.-Catalogue  of  the  hi- 

nine,  to  the  assembly  of  Asia,  respect-         shops  of  Rome,  -     - 18& 

ing^ur  doctrine,      - HO,      Chap.  VII.-M.racles    were    per- 

Chap.  XI  v.— Circumstances  relat-         formed  m  those  times  by  the  believers,_18b 
ed  of  Polycarp,  an  apostolic  man,  -     141  j     Chap.    VIII.— The 

—  ■         ""  Irenasus  respecting  the,  ouv-iv.^ -^^..j- 

187 


Page 

Chap.  III.— The  authors  that  wrote 
m  the  defence  of  the  faith,  in  the 
reign  of  Adrian, 129 

Chap.  IV.— The  bishops  of  Alex- 
andria and  Rome,  under  the  same 
emperor,    ---------   130 

Chap,  v.— The  bishops  of  Jerusa- 
lem, from  the  period  of  our  Saviour 
until  these  times, ib. 

Chap.  VI.— The  last  siege  of  the 
Jews  under  Adrian, 131 

Chap.  VII. — Those  who  were  con- 
sidered leaders  in  false  doctrine  at 
this  time, 132 

Chap.  VIII.— The  ecclesiastical 
writers  then  flouftshing,    -     -     -     -  135 

Chap.  IX.— The  epistle  of  Ha- 
drian, forbidding  the  Christians  to  be 
punished  without  trial,      -     -     -     -  136 

Chap.  X.— The  bishops  of  Rome 
and  Alexandria,  in  the  reign  of  An- 


-Of  Pantsnus  the  phi- 


statement    of 

Chap.  XV.— The  martyrdom  of  Po-         Irenajus  respecting  the  sacred  Scrip- 
lycarp,  with  others  at  Smyrna,    -     -   143  tures,  -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     - 

Chap.  XVI.-How  Justin  the  phi-  Chap.    IX.-The    bishops    under 

losopher  suffered  martyrdom,  assert-        jCommodus, 
ing  the  doctrines  of  Christ,    -     -     -  150|      Chap.  X, 

Chap.  XVII.— The  martyrs  men-        I  losopher,  -  ,  •    ,o, 

tioned  by  Justin  in  his  books,     -     -152      Chap.XI.-Clement  of  Alexandria,191 

Chap.  XVIII.— The  books  of  Jus-  Chap.  XII.— The  bishops  of  Jeru- 

tin  that  have  come  down  to  us,  -     -  154  salem 

Chap.  XIX.— Those  that  presided 
over  the  churches  of  Rome  and  Alex. 


ib. 


192 


andria,  in  the  reign  of  Verus,     -     -  156 

Chap.  XX.— The  bishops  of  An- 
tioch, 

Chap.  XXI. — The  ecclesiastical 
writers  that  flourished  in  these  times. 

Chap.  XXII.— Of  Hegesippus,  and 
those  whom  he  mentions,       -     -     -  157 

Chap.  XXIII.— Of  Dionysius,  bi- 
shop of  Corinth,  and  his  epistles,     -  158 

Chap.  XXIV.— Of  Theophilus, 
bishop  of  Antioch, 

Chap.  XXV.— Of  Philip  and  Mo 
destus,      .-..----• 


ib. 


ib. 


161 


194 


Chap.  XIII.— Of  Rhodo,  and  the 
dissension  occasioned  by  Marcion, 
which  he  records, ib. 

Chap.  XIV.— The  false  prophets 
of  the  Phrygians,    -     -     -     - 

Chap.  XV.— Of  the  schism  of 
Blastus,  at  Rome, ib. 

Chap.  XVI.  --The  affairs  of  Mon- 
tanus.  and  his  false  prophets,      -     -  195 

Chap.  XVII.— Of  Miltiades  and 
his  works,      --------   199 

Chap.  XVIII. — ApoUonius  also  re- 
futes the  Phrygian  heresy,  and  those 
whom  he  has  mentioned,  -     -     -     -  200 

Chap.  XIX. — The  opinion  of  Se- 

B 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
rapion  respecting  the  heresy  of  the 
Phrygians, 203 

Chap.  XX. — The  writings  of  Ire- 
nsus  against  the  schismatics  at  Rome,  ib. 

(/hap.  XXI. — The  martyrdom  of 
Apollonius,  at  Rome,    -----  205 

Chap.  XXII.— The  Inshops  that 
flourished  at  this  time,       -     .     -     . 

Chap.  XXIII.— The  question  then 
agitated  respecting  the  passover,      -  207 

Chap.  XXIV. — The  dissension  of 
the  churches  in  Asia,  -----  208 

Chap.  XXV. — All  agree  to  one 
opinion  respecting  the  passover,      -  211 

Chap.  XXVI.— The  elegant  works 
of  Irena;us  that  have  come  down  to  ug,  212 

Chap.  XXVII.— The  works  of 
©thers  that  flourished  at  the  time,     -    ib. 

Chap.  XXVIII.— Those  that  fol- 
lowed the  heresy  of  Artemon,  in  the 
beginning.  Their  character  and  con- 
duct ;  and  their  attempt  at  corrupt- 
ing the  Scriptures, 213 

BOOK  VI.— Pages  217—270. 

Chapter  I. — The  persecution  un- 
der Severus,-     - 217 

Chap.  II. — The  education  of  Ori- 
gen,  from  his  earliest  youth,  -     -     -    ib. 

Chap.  III. — When  a  very  young 
man  he  preached  the  gospel,  -     -     -  220 

Chap.  IV. — The  number  of  his 
catechumens  that,  suffered  martyrdom,  223 

Chap.  V. — Of  Potamiaena,  -     -     -    ib.\ 

Chap.  VI. — Clement  of  Alexandria,225 

Chap.  VII. — The  historian  Judas,    ib.      Chap.  XXXVII. — The  dissension 

Chap.  VIII. — The  resolute  act  of         of  the  Arabians, ib. 

Origen, 226      Chap.  XXXVIII.— The  heresy  of 

Chap.  IX. — The  miracle  of  Nar-         the  Helceaaites,  -     - 254 

cissus,      ---------  227      Chap.  XXXIX. — The  persecution 

Chap.  X. — The  bishops  in  Jeru-         of  Uecius^       -' ib. 

salem, 229      Chiip.   XL. — V\  hat   happened    to 

Chap.  XI.— Of  Alexander,     -     -  2.30  Dionysius, 255 

Chap.    XII. — Serapion,    and    the        |     Chap.  XLI. — Of  those  who    suf- 
writings  ascribed  to  him,      -     -       -  231  fered  martyrdom  at  Alexandria,  -     -  257 

Chap.  XIII. — The  works  of  Cle-        I     Chap.    XLII. —  Other    accounts 
ment, 232 'given  by  Dionysius, 261 

Chap.  XIV.— The  works  that  Cle-        |     Chap.    XLIII.— Of   Novatus,   his 
ment  mentions,  -------  233  manners  and  habits,  and  his  heresy,   263 


Chap.  XVm.— Of  Ambrose,  -    -  237 

Chajj.  XIX. — The  accounts  given 
of  Origen  by  others,     .     .     -     ~     -    ib 

Chap.  XX. — The  works  of  the 
writers  of  the  day  still  extant,    -     -  241 

Chap.  XXI.— The  bishops  that 
were  noted  at  this  time,    -     -     -     -  242 

Chap.  XXII.— The  works  of  Hip- 
poly  tus,  thai  have  reached  us,      -     -    ib. 

Chap.  XXIII. — Origen's  zeal,  and 
his  elevation  to  the  priesthood,    -     -  243 

Chap.  XXIV. — The  expositions 
he  gave  at  Alexandria,      -     -     -     -  244 

Chap.  XXV. — His  review  of  the 
collective  Scriptures, ib. 

Chap.  XXVI. — Heraclas  succeeds 
to  the  episcopate  of  Alexandria,       -  247 

Chap.  XXVII. — How  the  bishops 
regarded  him,     -------    ib. 

Chap.  XXVni.— The  persecution 
under  Maximinus,  - 243 

Chap.  XXIX. — Of  Fabianus,  who 
was  remarkably  appointed  bishop  of 
Rome,  bv  divine  conimunicalion,      -    ib. 

Chap.XXX.— The  pupils  of  Origen,249 

Chap.  XXXI.— Of  Africanus,    -     250 

Chap.  XXXII. — The  commenta- 
ries that  Origen  wrote  in  Palestine,    -  ib. 

Chap.  XXXIII.— The  error  of  Be- 
ryllus, 251 

Chap.  XXXIV.— Of  Philip  Cesar,  253 

Chap.  XXXV. — Dionysius  suc- 
ceeds Heraclas  in  the  episcopate,      -    ib. 

Chap.  XXXVI. —  Other  works 
written  by  Origen, 


253 


235 


Chap.  XV.— Of  Heraclas, 
Chcip.    XVI.— The    great    study 
which  Origen  devoted  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,     --------    ib. 

Chap.    XVII.— Of  the   translator 
Fymiuachu.s  -- 236 


Chap.  XIiIV.7— Dionysius's  ac- 
count of  Serapion,  ------  267 

Chap.  XLV.-^The  epistle  of  Dio- 
nysius to  Novatus,  ------  268 

Chap.  XL VI. — Other  epistles  of 
Dionysius,      ---....-  369 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  VII.--Pages  271—316. 

Chapter  I. — The  great  wickedness 
of  Decius  and  Gallus,       -     -     -     -  271 

Chap.  II. — The  bishops  of  Home 
at  this  time,    --------    ib. 

Chap.  III. — Cyprian,  and  the  bi- 
shops connected  with  him,  maintain- 
ed, that  those  who  had  turned  fi-om 
heretical  error,  should  be  baptized 
again, 272 

Chap.  IV. — The  epistles  that  Dio- 
nysius  wrote  on  this  subject.  -     -     -    ib. 

Chap.  V. — The  peace  after  the  per- 
secution,  ...------  273 

Chap.  VI.— The  hcresv  of  Sabel- 
Uus,-     -     -     -         -     -    ^     .     -     -  274 

Chap.  VIl. — Tho  execrable  error 
of  the  heretics,  ihe  divine  vision  of 
Dionysius,  and  the  ecclesiastical 
canon  given  to  him,      .     -     .     .     -    ib. 

Chap.  VIII.— The  heterodoxy  of 
Novatus, 276 

Chap.  IX. — The  ungodly  baptism 
of  heretics, -     •     -    ib. 

Chap.  X. — Valerian,  and  the  per- 
secution raised  by  him,     -     .     -     -  278 

Chap.  XI. — The  sufferings  of  Dio- 
nysius, and  those  in  Egypt,   -     -     -  280 

Chap.  XII.— The  martyrs  of  Ce- 
sarea  of  Palestine, -  285 

Chap.  XIII. — The  peace  after  Gal- 
lienus, ib. 

Chap.  XIV.— The  bishops  that 
flourished  at  this  time,       .     .     -     .  286 

Chap.  XV. — The  martyrdom  of 
Marinus  at  Cesarea,       -     -     -     -     -    ib. 

Chap.  XVI. — Some  account  of 
Astyrius, 287 

Chap.  XVII. — The  miracles  of  our 
Saviour  at  Paneas,  ------  288 

Chap.  XVIIL— The  statue  erected 
by  a  woman  having  an  hemorrhage,     ib. 
'    Chap    XIX. — The  episcopal  seat 
of  James, 289 

Chap.  XX.— The  epistles  of  Dio- 
nysius on  festivals,  in  which  he  gives 
the  canon  of  the  passover,     -     -     -  290 

Chap.  XXI. — The  events  that  oc- 
curred at  Alexandria,     -     -  -     -     -    ib. 

Chap.  XXII. : —  The  pestilence 
which  then  prevailed, 292 

Chap.  XXIIL— The  reign  of  Gal- 
lienus, 294 

Chap.  XXIV.— Of  Nepos,  and  his 


schism, 


Chap.  XXV. — The  apocalypse  of 
John, 297 

Chap.  XXVI.— The  epistles  of 
Dionysius,    -- 301 

Chap.  XXVII.— Paul  of  Samosata, 
and  the  heresy  introduced  by  him  at 
Antioch, 303 

Chap.  XXVIII.— The  different  bi- 
shops then  distinguished,  .     -     -     -    ib. 

Chap.  XXIX. — Paul  refuted  by  a 
certain  Malchion,  one  of  the  presby- 
ters who  had  been  a  sophist,  was  de- 
posed,       303 

Chap.  XXX.— The  epistle  of  the 
council  against  Paul,  -----  304 

Chap.  XXXI,— The  error  of  the 
Manichees,  which  commenced  at  this 
time, 309 

Chap.  XXXII. — Of  those  distin- 
guished ecclesiastical  writers  of  our 
own  day,  and  which  of  ihem  survived 
until  the  destruction  of  the  churches,  310 

BOOK  VIII.— Pages  317—348. 

Chapter  I. — The  events  that  pre- 
ceded the  persecution  in  our  times,  -  317 

Chap.  II. — The  demolition  of  the 
churches, 319 

Chap.  III. — The  nature  of  the 
conflicts  endured  by  the  martyrs,  in 
the  persecution,       ..---.  320 

Chap.  IV. — The  illustrious  martyrs 
of  God,  who  filled  every  place  with 
the  celebrity  of  their  name,  and  ob- 
tained various  crowns  of  martyrdom 
for  their  pietj',  -------321 

Chap,  v.— The  affairs  of  Nicome- 
dia, 322 

Chap.  VI. — Those  that  were  in  the 
palace, 323 

Chap.  VII.— The  Egyptians  that 
suffered  in  Phoenice,     -----  325 

Chap.  VIII. — Those  who  suffered  in 
Egypt, 327 

Chap.  IX.— Of  those  in  Thebais,    ib. 

Chap.  X.— The  writings  of  Phi- 
leas,  which  give  an  account  of  the 
martyrs  of  Alexandria,      .     .     -     -  329 

Chap.  XI. — The  events  in  Phrygia,  332 

Chap.  XII. — Of  many  others,  both 
men  and  women,  who  suffered  in  dif 
ferent  ways, 333 

Chap.  XIII.— Those  prelates  that 

inced  the    reality  of  the    religion 


295  they  proclaimed  with  their  blood,    -  335 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Chap.  XIV.— The  morals  of  the 
persecutors, 339 

Chap.  XV. — The  events  that  hap- 
pened to  the  heathen, 342 

Chap.  XVI.— The  change  of  af- 
fairs for  the  better, 343 

Chap.  XVII. — The  revocation  of 
the  emperors, 344 


BOOK  OF  MARTYRS. 
Pages  349—378. 


Page 

Chap.  VII. — Tlie  measures  decreed 
against  us,  and  engraved  on  pillars,    385 

Copy  of  the  translated  epistle  of 
Maximinus,  in  answer  to  the  ordinan- 
ces (of  the  cities)  against  us,  taken 
from  the  brazen  tablet  at  Tyre,  -     -  386 

Chap.  VIII. — The  events  that  oc- 
curred after  these;  famine,  pestilence, 
and  war, --  389 

Chap.  IX. — The  death  of  the  ty- 
rants, and  their  expressions  before 
their  end, 391 

Copy  of  the  translated  epistle  of 
the  tyrant  Maximinus,       .     -     .     .  394 

Chap.  X. — The  victory  of  the 
pious  emperors,      ......     397 

Copy  of  the    tyrant's    ordinance, 
in  regard  to  the  Christians,  translated 
from  the  Latin  into  the  Greek,  -     -  398 
I      Chap.  XI. — The  total  destruction 
of  the  enemies  of  rehgion,     -     -     -  401 


Chapter  I, — Procopius,  Alphcus, 
and  Zaccheus, 349 

Chap.  II. — The  martyr  Romanus,  350 

Chap.  III. — Timotheus,  Agapius, 
Thecla,  and  eight  others,  -     -     -     -  3^2 

Chap.  IV.— Apphianus,     -     -     -  353 

Chap.  V. — The  martyrs  Ulpian 
and  JEdesius, 357 

Chap.  VI. — The  martyr  Agapius,  358 

Chap.  VII.— The  martyrs  Theodo- 
Bia,  Domninus,  and  Auxentius,  -     -  359 

Chap.  VIII. — Other  confessors  ; 
also  Valentina  and  Paulus,     -     -     -  361 

Chap.  IX.— The  renewal  of  the 
persecution  with  greater  violence. 
Antoninus,  Zebina,  Germanus,  and 
others, 364 

Chap.  X. — Petrus  Ascetes,  Ascle- 
pius  the  Marcionite,  and  other  mar- 
tyrs,      367 

Chap.  XL — Of  the  martyrdom  of  ,      ,  ^  a-  ■ 

T,        jV,  ,    ^,  -'  of<o  splendour  of  our  anairs 

Famphilus  and  others.  -     -     -     -     -  308,  '^ -^  ■  ,i     i    -n-  r  .i. 

Chap.  XIL-The  prelates  of  the  ,  P^f  gy"«  «»  the  buildmg  of  the 

,       ,^  ^  „„. 'churches,  addressed  to  Paulmus,  bi- 

churcn,      ---------3/4 

Chap.  XIII. — Silvanus  and  John, 
and  thirty  other  martyrs,  -     -     -     -  375 


BOOK  X.— Pages  403—439. 

Chapter  I. — The  peace  which 
was  granted  us  by  divine  interposi- 
tion,      403 

Chap.  II. — The  restoration  of  the 
churches,       - 404 

Chap.  III. — The  dedications  of  the 
churches  in  all  places, 405 

Chap.    IV. — Panegyric    on    the 

-     -  406 


BOOK  IX.— Pages  379—402. 

Chapter  I. — The  pretended  relaxa- 
tion,      379 

Chap.  II. — The  subsequent  reverse,  382 
Chap.  III. — The  new  statue  erect- 
ed at  Antioch,     .......    ib. 

Chap.  IV. — The  decrees  against  us,  3S3 
Chap,  v.— The  false  acts,  -     -     -  384 
Chap.   VI. — Those    who    suffered 
martyrdom  at  this  time,     ...    -    ib. 


shop  of  Tyre, ib. 

Chap,  V. — Copies  of  the  imperial 
decrees, 426 

Chap.  VI. — Of  the  property  be- 
longing to  the  Christians,      -     -     -  431 

Chap.  VII. — The  privileges  and 
immunities  of  the  clergy,      ...  432 

Chap.  VIII.  — ■  The  wickedness 
which  Licinius  afterwards  exhibited, 
and  his  death, 433 

Chap.  IX. — The  victory  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  the  blessings  which 
under  him  accrued  to  the  whole 
Roman  world,    -------437 


THE 
ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY 

OF 

EUSEBIUS    PAMPHILUS. 


BOOK    I. 


CHAPTER  L 

Subject  of  the  present  icorh. 

As  it  is  my  purpose  to  record  the  successions  of  the  holy  apos- 
tles, together  with  the  times  sirxe  our  Saviour,  down  to  the  pre- 
sent, to  recount  how  many  and  important  transactions  are  said  to 
have  occurred  in  ecclesiastical  history,  what  individuals  in  the 
most  noted  places  eminently  governed  and  presided  over  the 
church,  what  men  also  in  their  respective  generations,  whether 
with  or  without  their  writings,  proclaimed  the  divine  word ;  to 
describe  the  character,  times  and  number  of  those  who,  stimu- 
lated by  the  desire  of  innovation,  and  advancing  to  the  greatest 
errors,  announced  themselves  leaders  in  the  propagation  of  false 
opinions,  like  grievous  wolves,  unmercifully  assaulting  the  flock 
of  Christ ;  as  it  is  my  intention,  also,  to  describe  the  calamities 
that  swiftly  overwhelmed  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  in  consequence 
of  their  plots  against  our  Saviour;  how  often,  by  what  means 
and  in  what  times,  the  word  of  God  has  encountered  the  hostility 
of  the  nations ;  what  eminent  persons  persevered  in  contending 
for  it  through  those  periods  of  blood  and  torture,  beside  the  mar- 
tyrdoms which  have  been  endured  in  our  own  times:  and  after  all, 
to  show  the  gracious  and  benign  interposition  of  our  Saviour ; 
these  being  proposed  as  the  subjects  of  the  present  work,  I  shall 
go  back  to  the  very  origin  and  the  earliest  introduction  of  the 
ilispensation  of  our  liOrd  and  Saviour  the  Christ  of  God. 

13 


14  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

But  here,  acknowledging  that  it  is  beyond  my  power  to  present 
the  work  perfect  and  unexceptionable,  I  freely  confess  it  will 
crave  indulgence,  especially  since,  as  the  first  of  those  that  have 
entered  upon  the  subject,  we  are  attempting  a  kind  of  trackless 
and  unbeaten  path.  Looking  up  with  prayer  to  God  as  our 
guide,  we,  trust  indeed,  that  we  shall  have  the  power  of  Christ  as 
our  aid,  though  we  are  totally  unable  to  find  even  the  bare  ves- 
tiges of  those  who  may  have  travelled  the  way  before  us ;  unless, 
perhaps,  what  is  only  presented  in  the  slight  intimations,  which 
some  in  different  ways  have  transmitted  to  us  in  certain  partial 
narratives  of  the  times  in  which  they  lived ;  who,  raising  their 
voices  before  us,  like  torches  at  a  distance,  and  as  looking  down 
from  some  commanding  height,  call  out  and  exhort  us  where  we 
should  walk,  and  whither  direct  our  course  with  certainty  and 
safety.  Whatsoever,  therefore,  we  deem  likely  to  be  advan- 
tageous to  the  proposed  subject,  we  shall  endeavour  to  reduce  to 
a  compact  body  by  historical  narration.  For  this  purpose  we 
have  collected  the  materials  that  have  been  scattered  by  our 
predecessors,  and  culled,  as  from  some  intellectual  meadows,  the 
appropriate  extracts  from  ancient  authors.  In  the  execution  of 
this  work  we  shall  be  happy  to  rescue  from  oblivion,  the  succes- 
sions, if  not  of  all,  at  least  of  the  most  noted  apostles  of  our 
Lord,  in  those  churches  which  even  at  this  day  are  accounted 
the  most  eminent ;  a  labour  which  has  appeared  to  me  necessary 
in  the  highest  degree,  as  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  find  that 
any  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers  have  directed  their  efforts  to  pre- 
sent any  thing  complete  in  this  department  of  writing.  But  as 
on  the  one  hand  I  deem  it  highly  necessary,  so  also  I  believe  it 
will  appear  no  less  useful,  to  those  who  are  zealous  admirers  of 
historical  research.  Of  these  matters,  indeed,  I  have  already 
heretofore  furnished  an  epitome  in  my  chronological  tables,  but 
in  the  present  work  I  have  undertaken  a  more  full  narrative. 
As  I  said  above,  I  shall  begin  my  treatise  with  that  dispensa- 
tion, and  that  doctrine  of  the  divinity  which  in  sviblimity  and 
excellence  surpasses  all  human  invention,  viz.  that  of  our  Sa- 
viour Christ.  And  indeed,  whoever  would  give  a  detail  of  eccle- 
siastical history  to  posterity,  is  necessarily  obliged  to  go  back  to 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  15 

the  very  origin  of  the  dispensation  of  Qirlst,  as  it  is  from  him, 
indeed,  that  we  derive  our  very  epithet,  a  dispensation  more  di- 
vine than  many  are  disposed  to  think. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Summary  view  of  the  pre-existence  and  Divinity  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

As  the  mode  of  existence  in  Christ  is  twofold,  the  one  resem- 
bling the  head  of  the  body,  indicating  his  divinity;  the  other 
compared  to  the  feet,  by  which  he,  for  the  sake  of  our  salvation, 
assumed  that  nature  which  is  subject  to  the  same  infirmities  with 
ourselves ;  hence  our  account  of  the  subsequent  m.atter  may  be 
rendered  complete  and  perfect,  by  commencing  with  the  princi- 
pal and  most  important  points  in  his  history.  By  this  method,  at 
the  same  time,  the  antiquity  and  the  divine  dignity  of  the  Chris- 
tian name  will  be  exhibited  to  those  who  suppose  it  a  recent  and 
foreign  production,  that  sprung  into  existence  but  yesterday,  and 
was  never  before  known. 

No  language,  then,  is  sufficient  to  express  the  origin,  the  dig- 
nity, even  the  substance  and  nature  of  Christ.  Whence  even  the 
divine  Spirit  in  the  prophecies  says,  "  who  will  declare  his  genera- 
tion V  For  as  no  one  hath  known  the  Father,  but  the  Son,  so 
no  one  on  the  other  hand,  can  know  the  Son  fully,  but  the  Fa- 
ther alone,  by  whom  he  was  begotten.  For  who  but  the  Father 
hath  thoroughly  understood  that  Light  which  existed  before 
the  world  was — that  intellectual  and  substantial  wisdom,  and  that 
living  Word  which  in  the  beginning  was  with  the  Father,  before 
all  creation  and  any  production  \'isible  or  invisible,  the  first  and 
only  otispring  of  God,  the  prince  and  leader  of  the  spiritual  and 
immortal  host  of  heaven,  the  angel  of  the  mighty  council,  the 
agent  to  execute  the  Father's  secret  will,  the  maker  of  all  things 
with  the  Father,  the  second  cause  of  the  universe  next  to  the 
Father,  the  true  and  only  Son  of  the  Father,  and  the  Lord  and 

God  and  King  of  all  created  things,  who  has  received  power,  and 
4* 


16  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

dominion  with  divinity  itself,  and  power  and  honour  from  the 
Father.  All  this  is  evident  from  those  more  abstruse  passages  in 
reference  to  his  divinity,  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  word,  and 
the  word  was  with  God,  and  the  word  was  God."  "  All  things 
were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  nothing  was  made."  This, 
too,  we  are  taught  by  the  great  Moses,  that  most  ancient  of  all 
the  prophets,  when  under  the  influence  of  the  divine  Spirit,  he  de- 
scribes the  creation  and  arrangement  of  all  things,  he  also  informs 
us  that  the  Creator  and  maker  of  the  universe  yielded  to  Christ, 
and  to  none  but  to  his  divine  and  first  begotten  word,  the  forma- 
tion of  all  subordinate  things,  and  communed  with  him  respect- 
ing the  creation  of  man.  "  For,"  says  he,  "  God  said  let  us  make 
man  according  to  our  image  and  according  to  our  likeness."  This 
expression  is  confirmed  by  another  of  the  prophets,  who,  discoursing 
of  God  in  his  hymns,  declares,  "  He  spake,  and  they  were  made ;  he 
commanded,  and  they  were  created."  Where  he  introduces  the 
Father  and  maker  as  the  Ruler  of  all,  commanding  with  his  sove- 
reign nod,  but  the  divine  word  as  next  to  him,  the  very  same  that  is 
proclaimed  to  us,  as  ministering  to  his  Father's  commands.  Him 
too,  all  that  are  said  to  have  excelled  in  righteousness  and  piety, 
since  the  creation  of  man ;  Moses,  that  eminent  servant  of  God, 
and  Abraham  before  him,  the  children  of  the  latter,  and  as  many 
righteous  prophets  as  subsequently  appeared,  contemplated  with 
the  pure  eyes  of  the  mind,  and  both  recognized  and  gave  him  the 
worship  that  was  his  due  as  the  Son  of  God.  The  Son  himself, 
however,  by  no  means  indifferent  to  the  worship  of  the  Father,  is 
appointed  to  teach  the  knowledge  of  the  Father  to  all.  The 
Lord  God,  therefore,  appeared  as  a  common  man  to  Abraham, 
whilst  sitting  at  the  oak  of  Mamre.  And  he,  immediately  fall- 
ing down,  although  he  plainly  saw  a  man  with  his  eyes,  never- 
theless worshipped  him  as  God,  and  entreated  him  as  Lord.  He 
confesses,  too,  that  he  is  not  ignorant  who  he  is  in  the  words,  "  Lord, 
the  judge  of  all  the  earth,  wilt  not  thou  judge  righteously  ?"  For 
as  it  were  wholly  unreasonable  to  suppose  the  uncreated  and  un- 
changeable substance  of  the  Almighty  God  to  be  changed  into 
the  form  of  a  man,  or  to  deceive  the  eyes  of  beholders  with  the 
phantom  of  any  created  substance,  so  also  it  is  unreasonable  to 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  17 

suppose  that  the  Scriptures  have  falsely  invented  such  things  as 
these.  "  God  and  the  Lord  who  is  judge  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
executeth  judgment"  appearing  in  tlie  shape  of  man,  who  else 
can  he  be  called,  if  it  be  not  lawful  to  call  him  the  author  of  the 
universe,  than  his  only  pre-existing  word?  Concerning  whom 
also  in  the  Psalms  it  is  said,  "  He  sent  his  word  and  healed  them, 
and  delivered  them  from  their  corruptions."  Of  Him,  Moses  ob- 
viously speaks  as  the  second  after  the  Father,  when  he  says,  "  The 
Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from 
the  Lord."  Him  also  again  appearing  to  Jacob  in  the  form  of 
man,  the  sacred  Scriptures  call  by  the  name  of  God,  saying  to  Ja- 
cob, "  Thy  name  shall  no  longer  be  called  Jacob,  but  Israel  shall 
be  thy  name,  because  thou  hast  prevailed  with  God."  Whence 
also  Jacob  called  the  name  of  that  place  the  vision  of  God,  say- 
ing, "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  soul  has  lived."  To 
suppose  these  divine  appearances  the  forms  of  subordinate  angels 
and  servants  of  God,  is  inadmissible ;  since,  as  often  as  any  of  these 
appeared  to  men,  the  Scriptures  do  not  conceal  the  fact  in  the 
name,  expressly  saying  that  they  were  called  not  God  nor  Lord, 
but  angels,  as  would  be  easy  to  prove  by  a  thousand  references. 
Joshua  also,  the  successor  of  Moses,  calls  him  as  the  ruler  of  ce- 
lestial angels  and  archangels,  of  supernal  powers,  and  as  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God,  intrusted  with  the  second  rank  of 
sovereignty  and  rule  over  all,  "  the  captain  of  the  Lord's  host," 
although  he  saw  him  only  in  the  form  and  shape  of  man.  For 
thus  it  is  written :  "And  it  came  to  pass  when  Joshua  was  by  Je- 
richo, that  he  hfted  up  his  eyes,  and  looked,  and  behold  there 
stood  a  man  over  against  him,  with  his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand ; 
and  Joshua  went  unto  him,  and  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  for  us,  or 
for  our  adversaries.  And  he  said.  Nay  but  as  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host  am  I  now  come.  And  Joshua  fell  on  his  face  to  the 
earth,  and  said  unto  him.  What  saith  my  Lord  unto  his  servant  1 
And  the  captain  of  the  Lord's  host,  said  unto  Joshua,  Loose  thy 
shoe  from  off  thy  foot :  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is 
holy."     Josh.  V. 

Here  then  you  will  perceive  from  the  words  themselves,  that 
this  is  no  other  than  the  one  that  also  communicated  with  Moses. 
C 


18  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Since  the  Scriptures  in  the  sanie  words,  and  in  reference  to  the 
same  one  says,  "  When  the  Lord  saw  that  he  drew  near  to  see, 
the  Lord  called  to  him  from  the  midst  of  the  bush,  saying,  Moses, 
Moses.  And  he  ans^'/ered,  Here  am  I.  But  he  said,  Draw  not 
nearer,  loose  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  on  which 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground.  And  he  said  to  him,  I  am  the  God 
of  thy  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob." 

That  there  is  also  a  certain  antemundane,  living,  and  self-ex- 
isting substance,  ministering  to  the  Father  and  God  of  all  unto  the 
formation  of  all  created  objects,  called  the  word  and  the  wisdom 
of  God,  besides  the  proofs  already  advanced,  we  may  also  learn 
from  the  very  words  of  wisdom,  speaking  of  herself  in  the  clear- 
est manner,  through  Solomon,  and  thus  initiating  us  into  her 
mysteries.  Prov.  viii.  "  I  wisdom  make  my  habitation  with  pru- 
dence and  knowledge,  and  have  called  to  understanding.  By 
me  kings  reign  and  princes  define  justice.  By  me  the  great  are 
magnified,  and  rulers  subdue  the  earth."  To  which  he  subjoins 
the  following :  "  The  Lord  created  me  in  the  beginning  of  his 
ways,  for  his  works ;  before  the  world  he  established  me,  before 
the  formation  of  the  earth,  before  the  waters  came  from  their 
fountains,  before  the  foundation  of  the  mountains,  before  all  hills, 
he  brought  me  forth.  When  he  prepared  the  heavens,  I  was 
present  with  him,  and  when  he  established  the  fountains  under 
the  heavens,  I  was  with  him,  adjusting  them.  I  was  his  delight; 
daily  I  exulted  before  him  at  all  times,  when  he  rejoiced  that  he 
had  completed  the  world."  That  the  divine  word,  therefore,  pre- 
existed and  appeared,  if  not  to  all,  at  least  to  some,  has  been  thus 
briefly  shown. 

THE  REASONS  WHY  THE  GOSPEL  WAS  NOT  PROCLAIMED  SOONER. 

The  reason,  however,  why  this  was  not  also  proclaimed  before 
in  ancient  times,  to  all  men  and  all  nations,  as  it  is  now,  will  ap- 
pear from  the  following  considerations.  The  life  of  men,  in  an- 
cient times,  was  not  in  a  situation  to  receive  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
in  the  all-comprehensive  fulness  of  its  wisdom  and  its  virtue  For 
immediately  in  the  beginning,  after  that  happy  state,  the  first 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  19 

man,  neglecting  the  Divine  commands,  fell  into  the  present  mortal 
and  afflicted  condition,  and  exchanged  his  former  divine  enjoy- 
ment for  the  present  earth,  subject  to  the  curse.  The  descend- 
ants of  this  one,  having  filled  our  earth,  and  proved  themselves 
much  worse,  excepting  one  here  and  another  there,  comnrienced  a 
certain  brutal  and  disorderly  mode  of  life.  They  had  neither  city 
nor  state,  no  arts  or  sciences,  even  in  contemplation.  Laws  and 
justice,  virtue  and  philosophy  they  knew  not,  even  in  name.  They 
wandered  lawless  through  the  desert,  like  savage  and  fierce  ani- 
mals, destroying  the  intellectual  faculty  of  man,  and  exterminat- 
ing the  very  seeds  of  reason  and'  culture  of  the  human  mind,  by 
the  excesses  of  determined  wickedness,  and  by  a  total  surrender 
of  themselves  to  every  species  of  iniquity. 

Hence,  at  one  time  they  corrupted  each  other  by  criminal  in- 
tercourse; at  another,  they  murdered;  and  at  others,  fed  upon 
human  flesh.  Hence  too,  their  audacity,  in  venturing  to  wage 
war  with  the  Deity  himself;  and  hence  those  battles  of  the  giants, 
celebrated  by  all.  Hence  too,  their  attempts  to  wall  up  the  earth 
against  heaven,  and  by  the  madness  of  a  perverted  mind,  to  pre- 
pare an  attack  upon  the  supreme  God  himself  Upon  these  men, 
leading  a  life  of  such  wickedness,  the  Omniscient  God  sent  down 
inundations  and  conflagrations,  as  upon  a  forest  scattered  over  the 
earth.  He  cut  them  down  with  successive  famines  and  pestilence, 
with  constant  wars  and  thunderbolts,  as  if  to  suppress  the  dread- 
ful and  obdurate  disease  of  the  soul,  with  his  more  severe  punish- 
ments. Then  it  was,  when  the  excess  of  malignity  had  nearly 
overwhelmed  all  the  world,  like  a  deep  fit  of  drunkenness  over- 
shadowing and  beclouding  the  minds  of  men — then  it  was,  that 
the  first  begotten  wisdom  of  God,  existing  before  all  creatures,  and 
the  self-same  pre-existing  word,  induced  by  his  exceeding  love  of 
man,  appeared  at  times  to  his  servants,  in  visions  of  angel?;  at 
others,  in  his  own  person.  As  the  salutary  power  of  God,  he  was 
seen  by  one  and  the  other  of  the  pious  in  ancient  times,  in  the 
shape  of  man,  because  it  was  impossible  to  appear  in  any  other 
way.  And  as  by  these  pious  men,  the  seeds  of  godliness  had  been 
already  scattered  among  the  mass  of  mankind,  and  the  whole  na- 
tion that  claimed  its  origin  from  those  ancient  Hebrews,  continued 


20  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

devoted  to  the  worship  of  God— to  these,  therefore,  as  to  a  multi 
tude  still  affected  by  former  corrupt  practices,  he  imparted, 
throuo-h  Moses,  images  and  signs  of  a  certain  mystical  Sabbath  and 
circumcision,  and  instructions  in  other  spiritual  principles,  but  did 
not  yet  grant  the  privilege  of  an  immediate  initiation.  But  when 
their  law  obtained  celebrity,  and  like  a  fragrant  odour  was  spread 
ahroad  among  all  men ;  and  by  means  of  this  law,  the  dispositions 
of  men,  even  among  most  of  the  gentiles,  were  improved  by  legis- 
lators and  philosophers  every  where,  who  softened  their  wild  and 
savage  ferocity,  so  as  to  enjoy  settled  peace,  friendship,  and  mu- 
tual intercourse;  then  it  was,  when  men  at  length  throughout  the 
whole  world,  and  in  all  nations  had  been,  as  it  were,  previously  pre- 
pared and  fitted  for  the  reception  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Father, 
that  he  himself  again  appeared,  the  master  of  virtue,  the  minister 
of  the  Father  in  all  goodness;  the  divine  and  celestial  word  of  God. 
He  appeared  in  a  human  body,  in  substance  not  diflfering  from  our 
own  nature,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Roman  empire;  per- 
formed and  suffered  such  things  as  were  to  follow,  according  to 
prophecy,  viz.  that  man  and  God,  the  author  of  miraculous  works, 
would  dwell  in  the  world,  and  would  he  exhibited  to  all  the  na- 
tions as  the  teacher  of  that  piety  which  the  Father  will  approve. 
In  these  prophecies,  also,  were  foretold  the  extraordinary  fact  of 
his  birth,  his  new  doctrine,  and  his  wonderful  works ;  as  also  the 
manner  of  his  death,  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  finally 
his  divine  return  to  the  heavens.  The  prophet  Daniel,  under  the 
influence  of  the  divine  Spirit,  foreseeing  his  kingdom  in  the  end, 
was  inspired  thus  to  write  and  describe  his  vision,  in  adaptation  to 
human  capacity,  in  the  following  language:  "I  beheld,"  said  he, 
"until  the  thrones  were  placed;  and  the  Ancient  of  Days  sat,  and 
his  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  was  as 
pure  wool ;  his  throne  was  a  flame  of  fire,  his  wheels  burning  fire ; 
a  river  of  fire  rolled  before  him;  thousand  thousands  ministered 
unto  him,  and  ten  thousand  thousands  stood  near  him.  He  ap- 
pointed judgment,  and  the  books  were  opened."  "  And  next,  I  be- 
held," says  he,  "  and  lo!  one  coming  with  the  clouds  as  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  he  advanced  as  far  as  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and  he  was 
brought  into  his  presence.     And  to  him  was  given  the  dominion, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  21 

and  the  glory,  and  the  kingdom,  and  all  people,  trihes,  tongues 
shall  serve  hkn.  His  power  is  an  everlasting  power,  which  shall 
not  pass  away;  and  his  kingdom  shall  not  be  destroyed."  These 
passages  can  evidently  be  referred  to  no  one  but  to  our  Saviour,  that 
God  word*  which  was  in  the  beginning  with  God;  called  the  Son 
of  God,  by  reason  of  his  final  appearance  in  the  flesh.  But  having 
collected  the  prophetic  declarations  concerning  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  in  distinct  commentariesf  on  this  subject,  and  having  else- 
where digested  whatever  is  revealed  concerning  him,  in  a  more 
demonstrable  form,  what  has  been  said  upon  the  subject  here 
may  suflice  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  name  Jesus,  as  also  that  of  Christ,  was  both  known  and  ho- 
noured from  ancient  times,  by  the  inspired  prophets. 

It  is  now  the  proper  place  to  show  that  the  very  name  of  Jesus, 
as  also  that  of  Christ,  was  honoured  by  the  pious  prophets  of  old. 
And  first,  Moses  himself,  having  intimated  how  exceedingly  au- 
gust and  illustrious  the  name  of  Christ  is,  delivering  types  and  mys- 
tical images,  according  to  the  oracle  which  declared  to  him,  "  See 
that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  which  was 
shown  thee  on  the  mount," — the  same  man  whom,  as  far  as  it  was 
lawful,  he  had  called  the  high  priest  of  God,  the  self-same  he  calls 
ChristJ  And  in  this  way,  to  the  dignity  of  the  priesthood,  wliich 
surpasses  with  him,  all  superiority  among  men,  as  additional  ho- 
nour and  glory,  he  attaches  the  name  of  Chj-ist.  Hence  he  evi- 
dently understood  that  Christ  was  a  Being  divine.  The  same 
Moses,  under  the  divine  Spirit,  foreseeing  also  the  epithet  Jesus, 
likewise  dignifies  this  with  a  certain  distinguished  privilege.    For 

•  God  -word.     The  literal  expression  is  retained  here. 

■}•  Commentaries.  Eusebius  here  refers  to  two  other  works  of  his,  written  be- 
fore this  history,  his  Preparation  and  Demonstration. 

4:  Christ.  Christ  and  Messiah,  the  same  epithets  in  difierent  languages,  signify 
anointed,  or  the  anointed  one. 


2^  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

this  name,  which  had  never  been  uttered  among  men,  before  Mo- 
ses, he  applies  first  to  him  alone  who,  by  a  type  and  sign,  he  knew 
would  be  his  successor  after  his  death,  in  the  government  of  the  na 
tion.  His  successor,  therefore,  who  had  not  assumed  the  appella- 
tion Jesus,*  (Joshua,)  before  this  period,  being  called  by  his  other 
name  Oshea,  which  his  parents  had  given,  was  called  by  Moses 
Jesus,  (Jehoshua,  Joshua.)  Num.  xiii.  17.  This  name,  as  an  ho- 
nourable distinction,  far  superior  to  any  royal  diadem,  was  con- 
ferred on  Joshua,  because  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun  bore  a  resem- 
blance to  our  Saviour,  as  the  only  one  after  Moses,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  that  symbolical  worship  given  through  him,  that  should 
succeed  him  in  a  government  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  Thus 
Moses  attaches  the  name  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  greatest 
honour  to  two  men,  who,  according  to  him,  excelled  all  the  rest  in 
virtue  and  glory ;  the  one  to  the  high  priest,  the  other  to  him  that 
should  have  the  government  after  him.  But  the  prophets  that  lived 
subsequently  to  these  times,  also  plainly  announced  Christ  before  by 
name;  whilst  at  the  same  time  they  foretel  the  machinations  of  the 
Jews  against  him,  and  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  through  him. 
Jeremiah  bears  testimony,  speaking  thus :  "  The  breathf  (the  spi- 
rit,) before  our  face,  Christ  the  Lord,  was  taken  away  in  their 
destructions;  of  whom  we  said,  under  his  shadow  will  we  hve 
among  the  nations."  Lam.  iv.  20.  David  also,  fixed  in  astonish- 
ment, speaks  of  him  as  follows :  "  Why  do  the  heathen  rage,  and 
the  people  imagine  vain  things?  The  kings  of  the  earth  stood  up, 
and  the  rulers  were  gathered  together  against  the  Lord  and 
against  his  Christ."  To  which  he  afterwards  adds,  in  the  person 
of  Christ  himself:  "  The  Lord  said  to  me,  thou  art  my  Son,  this 
day  have  I  begotten  thee;  ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  nar 
tiovs  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utterm.ast  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession."  Ps.  ii. 

*  Jesus.  By  some  corruption  of  the  name  of  Joshua,  Eusebius  calls  him  Auses. 
Jesus  is  the  Greek  form,  for  the  more  Hebrew  Joshua.  The  Scptuagint  invariably 
use  the  former,  and  in  one  instance  it  is  retained  in  our  English  version.  Heb.  iv.  8. 

■j-  This  passage  from  Jeremiah  is  rendered  as  the  above  from  the  Septuagint,  as 
quoted  by  Eusebius.  In  our  English  version,  the  force  of  the  allusion  is  not  per- 
ceptible, and  one  might  look  in  vain  for  the  passage  as  rendered  here ;  but  the  He- 
brew fully  admits  the  Greek  version  here  given. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  ,>m 

Nor  was  the  name  of  Christ  among  the  Hebrews,  given  solely 
as  an  honour  to  those  that  were  dignified  with  the  priesthood,  in 
consequence  of  their  being  anointed  with  oil  prepared  for  the  pur- 
pose, as  a  sacred  symbol;  the  same  was  done  also  to  the  kings, 
whom  the  prophets,  after  anointing  them  under  a  divine  impulse, 
constituted  certain  typical  Christs,  as  they  themselves  also  were, 
the  shadows  of  the  royal  and  princely  sovereignty  of  the  only  and 
true  Christ,  of  that  divine  word  which  holds  sovereignty  over  all. 
Moreover,  we  are  also  told  respecting  the  prophets,  that  some 
were  typical  Clirists,  by  reason  of  their  unction;  so  that  all  these 
have  a  reference  to  the  true  Christ,  the  divine  and  heavenly  wo{,d, 
the  only  liigh  priest  of  all  men,  the  only  king  of  all  creation,  and 
the  Father's  only  supreme  Prophet  of  the  prophets.  The  proof  of 
this  is  evident,  from  the  fact  that  none  of  those  anciently  anointed, 
whether  priests,  kings,  or  prophets,  obtained  such  power  with  di- 
vine excellence  as  our  Saviour  and  Lord  Jesus,  the  only  and  true 
Christ,  has  exhibited.  For  these,  although  illustrious  among  their 
countrymen  in  dignity  and  honour,  and  for  a  long  series  of  genera- 
tions, never  caUed  their  subjects  after  themselves  by  a  similar  epi- 
thet, Giristians ,  and  neither  was  there  ever  divine  honour  paid  to 
any  of  these  fron:;  their  subjects ;  nor  even  after  their  death,  was 
there  ever  so  strong  a  disposition  in  any,  as  to  be  prepared  to  die 
for  the  honoured  individual.  And  never  was  there  so  great  a  com- 
motion among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  respecting  any  one  then 
existing,  since  the  mere  force  of  the  type  could  not  act  with  such 
efficacy  among  them,  as  the  exhibition  of  the  reality  by  our  Sa-* 
viour.  Though  He  received  no  badges  and  emblems  of  priest- 
hood from  any ;  though  he  did  not  even  derive  his  earthly  origin 
from  a  sacerdotal  race,  nor  was  raised  to  empire  under  the  escort 
of  guards;  nor  installed  a  prophet,  like  those  of  old;  nor  obtained 
a  peculiar,  or  even  any  dignity  among  the  Jews,  yet  notwith- 
standing all  this,  he  was  adorned  by  the  Father  with  all  these,  not 
merely  typical  honours,  but  with  the  reality  itself.  Although  He 
did  not  obtain  then  the  same  honours  with  those  mentioned  above, 
yet  he  is  called  Christ  by  a  far  superior  claim ;  and  as  he  is  the 
only  and  the  true  Christ  of  God,  he  has  filled  the  whole  world 
with  a  name  really  august  and  sacred,  the  name  of  Christians.  To 


24  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

those  who  are  admitted  among  these,  he  no  longer  imparts  mere 
types  and  simiUtudes,  but  undisguised  virtues,  and  a  heavenly  life, 
in  the  doctrines  of  truth.  He  received  an  unction,  not  formed  of 
material  substances,  but  that  which  comports  with  Deity,  the  di- 
vine Spirit  itself,  by  a  participation  of  the  uncreated  divinity  of 
the  Father.  This  is  shown  by  Isaiah,  who  seems  to  exclaim  in 
the  very  person  of  Christ:  "The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
wherefore  he  hath  anointed  me,  (he  hath  sent  me)  to  proclaim 
glad  tidings  to  the  poor,  to  heal  the  broken  hearted,  to  proclaim 
liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind." 
And  not  only  Isaiah  but  David  also,  addressing  him,  says,  "  Thy 
throne,  O  God,  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  A  sceptre  of 
righteousness  is  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom.  Thou  hast  loved 
righteousness  and  hated  iniquity.  Therefore  hath  God,  thy  God, 
anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows."  In  which 
words,  he  calls  him  God  in  the  first  verse ;  and  in  the  second  he 
ascribes  to  him  the  royal  sceptre,  and  thus  proceedujg  after  the 
divine  and  royal  power,  in  the  third  place,  he  represents  him  as 
Christ,  anointed  not  by  the  oil  of  material  substances,  but  by  the 
divine  oil  of  gladness.  By  this  also,  he  shows  his  excellence  and 
great  superiority  over  those  who,  in  former  ages,  had  been 
anointed  as  typical  images  with  the  material  substance.  The 
same  speaks  of  him  in  another  place,  thus:  "  The  Lord  said  unto 
my  Lord,  sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool ;"  and  a  little  after,  "  From  the  womb  before  the 
morning  star  did  I  beget  thee;  the  Lord  hath  sworn  and  he 
will  not  repent,  thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedech."  This  Melchisedek  is  mentioned  in  tlie  holy  Scrip- 
tures, as  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  not  consecrated  by  any 
unction  prepared  of  any  material  substance,  and  not  even  suc- 
ceeding to  the  priesthood  of  the  Jews,  by  any  descent  of  lineage. 
Hence,  Christ  our  Saviour  is  denominated,  with  the  addition 
of  an  oath,  Christ  and  priest  after  his  own  order,  but  not  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  those  who  received  merely  the  badges  and 
emblems.  Hence,  also,  neither  does  history  represent  him  anointed 
corporeally  among  the  Jews,  nor  even  as  sprung  from  a  tribe  of 
the  priesthood,  but  as  coming  into  existence  from  God  himself, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  -9^ 

before  the  morning  star;  that  is,  before  the  constitution  of  the 
world,  obtaining  an  immortal  priesthood,  subject  to  no  infirmity 
of  age,  to  all  endless  ages.  But  the  great  and  convincing  evi- 
dence of  that  incorporeal  and  divine  power  in  him,  is  the  fact 
that  he  alone,  of  all  that  have  ever  existed  to  the  present  day, 
even  now  is  known  by  the  title  of  Christ,  among  all  men  over  the 
world;  and  with  this  title  he  is  acknowledged  and  professed  by 
all,  and  celebrated  both  among  Barbarians  and  Greeks.  Even  to 
this  day,  he  is  honoured  by  his  votaries  throughout  the  world,  as 
a  king;  he  is  admired  as  more  than  a  prophet,  and  glorified  as  the 
only  true  high  priest  of  God.  In  addition  to  all  these,  as  the  pre- 
existing word  of  God,  coming  into  existence  before  all  ages,  and 
who  has  received  the  honours  of  worship,  he  is  also  adored  as  God; 
but  what  is  most  remarkable,  is  the  fact,  that  we  who  are  conse- 
crated to  him,  honour  him  not  only  with  the  voice  and  sound  of 
words,  but  with  all  the  affections  of  the  mind ;  so  that  we  prefer  giv- 
ing a  testimony  to  him,  even  to  the  preservation  of  our  own  lives. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  religion  announced  by  Christ  among  all  nations,  was  neithei 
unexpected  nor  strange. 

These  matters  have  thus  been  necessarily  premised  before  our 
history,  that  no  one  may  suppose  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  was  merely  a  new  comer,  on  account  of  the  date  at  which 
he  appeared  among  men,  in  the  flesh.  And  now,  that  no  one 
may  suppose  his  doctrine  is  new  or  strange,  as  if  springing  from 
one  of  recent  origin,  and  in  no  respect  differing  from  the  rest  of 
men,  let  us  also  briefly  examine  this  point. 

It  is  evident,  that  but  a  short  time  after  the  appearance  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  had  been  made  known  to  all  men,  a  new 
nation  suddenly  came  into  existence;  a  nation  confessedly  neither 
small  nor  weak,  nor  situated  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  earth,  but 
the  most  populous  and  the  most  religious  of  all,  and  so  much  the 
more  indestructible  and  invincible,  as  it  has  always  had  the  power 
D 


26  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  God  as  its  support.  This  nation,  appearing  at  the  time  ap- 
pointed by  insci'utable  wisdom,  is  that  which  among  all,  is  ho- 
noured with  the  name  of  Christ.  One  of  the  prophets,  foreseeing 
with  the  eye  of  the  spirit  of  God,  that  this  people  would  arise,  was 
so  struck  with  amazement  that  he  exclaimed :  "  Who  hath  heard 
such  things  as  this  ?  and  who  hath  ever  declared  thus  ?  hath  the 
earth  brought  forth  in  a  single  day,  and  hath  a  nation  been  born 
at  once  ?"  The  same  prophet  also  gives  some  intimation  of  the 
name  that  would  be  introduced:  "They  who  serve  me  shall  be 
called  by  a  new  name,  which  shall  be  blessed  upon  the  earth." 
And  indeed,  though  we  are  evidently  a  new  people,  this  new 
name  also  of  Christians  has  lately  become  known  to  all  nations. 
The  practice,  however,  and  the  walk  and  conversation,  the  prin- 
ciples of  piety  prevalent  among  this  people,  have  not  been  re- 
cently invented,  but  were  established,  we  may  say,  by  the  Deity 
in  the  natural  dictates  of  pious  men  of  old,  from  the  very  origin  of 
our  race ;  an  assertion  which  we  shall  endeavour  to  prove,  in  the 
following  manner. 

That  the  nation  of  the  Hebrews  is  not  new,  but  honoured  among 
all  for  its  antiquity,  is  well  known.  The  writings  and  literature 
of  this  nation  concern  ancient  men,  rare  and  few  in  number,  but 
yet  excelling  in  piety,  righteousness,  and  every  virtue.  And  in- 
deed, even  before  the  flood,  there  were  some  who  were  distin- 
guished for  their  virtue ;  and  after  this  others,  both  of  the  sons 
and  posterity  of  Noah,  among  whom  we  would  mention  Abraham, 
celebrated  by  the  Hebrews  as  the  founder  and  progenitor  of  theii 
nation.  Should  any  one,  beginning  from  Abraham,  and  going  back 
to  the  first  man,  pronounce  those  who  have  had  the  testimony  of 
righteousness.  Christians  in  fact,  though  not  in  name,  he  would  not 
be  far  from  the  truth.  For  as  the  name  Christians  is  intended  to 
indicate  this  very  idea,  that  a  man,  by  the  knowledge  and  doctrine 
of  Christ,  is  distinguished  by  modesty  and  justice,  by  patience  and 
a  virtuous  fortitude,  and  by  a  profession  of  piety  towards  the  one 
and  only  true  and  supreme  God ;  all  this  was  no  less  studiously  cul- 
tivated by  them  than  by  us.  They  did  not,  therefore,  regard  cir- 
cumcision, nor  observe  the  Sabbath,  neither  do  we;  neither  do  we 
abstain  from  certain  foods,  nor  regard  other  injunctions,  which 


J 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  27 

Moses  subsequently  delivered  to  be  observed  in  types  and  sym- 
bols, because  such  things  as  these  do  not  belong  to  Christians.  But 
they  obviously  knew  the  Christ  of  God,  as  he  appeared  to  Abra- 
ham, communed  with  Isaac,  spoke  to  Jacob;  and  that  he  com- 
muned with  Moses  and  the  prophets  after  him,,  has  already  been 
shown. 

Hence  you  will  find,  also,  these  pious  persons  honoured  with 
the  name  of  Christ,  as  in  the  following  expression :  "  Touch  not 
my  anointed  ones  (my  Christs,)  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 
Whence  we  should  plainly  suppose,  that  the  first  and  most  an- 
cient religion  known,  that  of  those  pious  men  that  were  connect- 
ed with  Abraham,  is  the  very  religion  lately  announced  to  all  in 
the  doctrines  of  Christ.  Abraham  is  said  to  have  received  the 
command  of  circumcision,  and  yet  long  before  this,  was  proved  to 
have  received  the  testimony  of  righteousness  through  faith. 
"  Abraham,"  the  Scriptures  say,  "  believed,  and  it  was  imputed 
unto  him  for  righteousness."  And,  indeed,  the  divine  communi- 
cation v/as  given  to  him  from  God,  who  appeared  to  him  when 
he  bore  this  character  before  circumcision.  And  this  was 
Christ  himself,  the  word  of  God  announcing  that  all  who  should 
come  in  future  times  should  be  justified  in  a  similar  way ;  saying, 
"  and  in  thee  shall  be  blessed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth."  And 
again,  "  when  he  shall  become  a  great  and  mighty  nation,  in  him 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed."  We  may  obviously 
understand  this  by  its  fulfilment  in  us ;  for  he  indeed  was  justified 
by  his  faith  in  Christ,  the  word  of  God  that  appeared  to  him ;  and 
having  renounced  the  superstition  of  his  fathers  and  the  former 
errors  of  his  life,  confessed  the  one  supreme  God,  and  served  him 
by  deeds  of  virtue,  and  not  by  the  service  subsequently  enjoined 
in  the  law  of  Moses. 

To  him,  then,  being  such,  it  was  declared  that  all  the  tribes 
and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  in  him.  But 
the  course  of  piety  which  was  pursued  by  Abraham,  has  appeared 
thus  far  cultivated  only  by  Christians,  and  that  too  by  works 
more  efficacious  than  words.  What,  then,  should  prevent  us 
henceforth  from  acknowledging  that  there  is  one  and  the  same 
principle  of  life  and  conduct,  the  same  course  of  piety  common 
5* 


23  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

lO  us,  who  have  come  after  Christ,  with  those  pious  men  who 
lived  in  times  long  before  1  Whence  it  is  evident  that  the  reli- 
gion delivered  to  us  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  not  a  new  nor  a 
strange  doctrine ;  but  if  the  ti'uth  must  be  spoken,  it  is  the  first 
and  only  true  religion.     Thus  much  may  suffice  on  this  point. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  tunes  of  our  Saviorir^s  manifestation  among  vien. 

After  the  necessary  preliminary  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History 
which  we  have  proposed  to  write,  it  now  remains  that  we  com- 
mence our  course,  invoking  God,  the  Father  of  the  word,  and  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  our  revealed  Saviour  and  Lord,  the  heavenly  word 
of  Gqdj  as  our  aid  and  fellow-labourer  in  the  narration  of  the 
truth.  It  was  the  forty-second  year  of  the  reign  of  Augustus, 
but  the  twenty-eighth  from  the  subjugation  of  Egypt  and  the 
death  of  iVntony  and  Cleopatra,  which  terminated  the  dynasty 
of  the  Ptolemies,  when,  according  to  prophetic  prediction,  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea; 
the  same  year,  when  the  first  census  was  taken,  and  Quirinius* 
was  governor  of  Syria. — This  census  is  mentioned  by  Flavins  Jo- 
sephus,  the  distinguished  historian  among  the  Hebrews,  who  also 
adds  another  account  respecting  the  sect  of  the  Galileans,  which 
arose  about  the  same  time,  of  which  also  mention  is  made  by  our 
Luke  in  his  book  of  Acts,  in  the  following  words — "  After  this  man 
arose  Judas  of  Galilee,  in  the  days  of  the  taxing  (assessment), 
and  drew  away  much  people  after  him,  he  also  preached ;  and 
all,  even  as  many  as  obeyed  him  were  dispersed."  Acts  v.  37. 
The  aforesaid  author  agreeing  with  this  statement  in  the  18th 

*  Quirinius. — This  Quirinius  is  the  same  Cyrenius  mentioned  by  St.  Luke. 
The  former  is  the  original  Roman  name,  the  latter  the  Latin  mode  ol  transferring 
the  name  from  the  Greek.  Had  it  been  recollected  that  the  Greek  name  was  not 
the  original,  this  proper  name  would  not  have  been  returned  to  its  own  language, 
in  a  form  so  disguised. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  29 

book  offlns  Antiquities,  adds  the  following :  "  But  Quirinius,  who 
helonged  to  the  senate,and  having  enjoying  other  offices,  advanced 
through  all  the  grades  of  office  to  the  consulship,  a  man  also  of 
great  dignity  in  other  respects,  by  the  appointment  of  Cesar,  came 
to  Syria,  with  a  small  force,  and  wdth  judicial  power  over  the 
people,  to  take  a  valuation  of  their  property."  A  little  after  he 
says :  "  But  Judas,  the  Gaulonite,  sprung  from  the  town  called 
Gamala,  together  with  Sadducus,  a  Pharisee,  headed  a  revolt  of 
the  people,  saying  that  the  assessment  had  nothing  else  in  view 
but  manifest  slavery ;  and  they  exhorted  the  people  to  assert  their 
liberty."  He  also  whites  in  the  second  book  of  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  War,  concerning  the  same  man :  "  About  this  time  a  cer- 
tain Judas  of  GaUlee,  stimulated  the  inhabitants  to  revolt,  urging 
it  as  a  reproach,  that  they  endured  paying  tribute,  and  tliat  they 
who  had  God  for  their  master,  suffered  mortals  to.  usurp  the  so- 
vereignty over  them."     Thus  far  Josephus. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

About  the  time  of  our  Lord,  agreeably  to  prophecij,  those  rulers 
ceased  that  had  formerly  governed  the  nation  of  the  Jews  by  re- 
gular succession,  and  Herod  was  the  first  foreigner  that  reigned 
over  them. 

At  the  time  that  Herod  was  king,  who  was  the  first  foreigner 
that  reigned  over  the  Jewish  people,  the  prophecy  recorded  by 
Moses  received  its  fulfilment,  viz.  "  That  a  prince  should  not  fail 
of  Judah,  nor  a  ruler  from  his  loins,  until  he  should  come  for  whom 
it  is  reserved."*  The  same,  he  also  shows,  would  be  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  nations.  The  prediction  was  evidently  not  accom- 
plished, as  long  as  they  were  at  liberty  to  have  their  own  native 
rulers,  which  continued  from  the  time  of  J\Ioses  down  to  the  reign 
of  Augustus.  Under  him,  Herod  was  the  first  foreigner  that  ob- 
tained the  government  of  the  Jews.     Since,  as  Josephus  has  writ- 

*  This  celebrated  passage  we  here  give  after  the  Scptuagint,  which  Eusebius 
invariably  quotes. 


30  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ten,  he  was  an  Idumean  by  the  father's  side,  and  an  Aral^an  by 
the  mother's.  But,  as  Africanus,  who  is  also  no  common  writer, 
says,  "  They  who  have  written  more  accurately  respecting  him, 
say  that  he  was  the  son  of  Antipatcr,  and  that  the  latter  was  the 
son  of  a  certain  Herod  of  Ascalon,  one  of  those  called  the  ministers 
of  the  temple  of  Apollo,  in  that  city.  This  Antipater,  when  a 
boy,  having  been  taken  prisoner  by  some  Idumean  robbers,  lived 
with  them,  because  his  father  being  a  poor  man,  was  unable  to 
pay  his  ransom.  Thus  growing  up  in  their  practices,  he  was 
afterwards  befriended  by  Hyrcanus  the  high  priest  of  the  Jews. 
His  son  was  that  Herod  that  flourished  in  the  tuiies  of  our  Sa- 
viour. The  government  of  the  Jews,  therefore,  having  devolved 
on  such  a  man,  the  expectation  of  the  nations  was  now  at  hand, 
according  to  prophecy;  because  with  him  terminated  the  regular 
succession  of  governors  and  princes,  from  the  time  of  Moses.  For 
before  their  captivity  and  their  transfer  to  Babylon,  they  were  first 
governed  by  Saul  and  David  as  their  kings ;  and  before  the  kings, 
the  government  was  administered  by  magistrates  called  judges, 
who  came  after  Moses  and  his  successor  Joshua.  After  the  re- 
turn from  the  captivity  of  Babylon,  they  continued  to  retain  the 
aristocratical  form  of  government,  together  with  an  oligarchy. 
The  high  priests  had  then  the  direction  of  aflairs,  until  Pompey, 
the  proconsular  general  of  the  Romans,  took  Jerusalem  by  force 
of  arms,  and  defiled  the  sacred  places,  entering  the  sanctuary  of 
the  temple.  Aristobulus,  who  had  been  both  king  and  high 
priest  by  regular  succession  until  then,  was  sent  with  his  children 
in  chains  to  Rome,  and  the  priesthood  was  given  to  his  brother 
Hyrcanus,  whilst  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  was  made  tri- 
butary to  the  Romans  from  that  time. 

But  Hyrcanus,  who  was  the  last  of  the  high  priests  by  succes- 
sion, having  been  soon  after  taken  prisoner  by  the  Parthians,  He- 
rod, as  I  said  before,  had  the  government  of  the  Jews  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  senate  of  Rome  and  the  emperor  Augustus. 
About  this  time,  the  advent  of  Christ  being  nigh  at  hand,  the  ex- 
pected salvation  of  the  nations  received  its  fulfilment,  and  was 
followed  by  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  according  to  prophetic  de- 
clarations.    From  tliis  time  also,  the  princes  and  rulers  of  Judah, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  31 

i.  e.  of  the  Jewish  nation, ceasing,  by  a  natural  consequence,  (tic 
priesthood,  which  had  descended  from  a  series  of  ancestors  in  the 
closest  succession  of  kindred,  was  immediately  thrown  into  confu- 
sion. Of  this,  you  have  the  evidence  of  Josephus ;  who  shows  that 
when  Herod  was  appointed  king  by  the  Romans,  he  no  longer  no- 
minated the  chief  priests  from  the  ancient  lineage,  but  conferred 
the  honour  upon  certain  obscure  individuals.  A  course  similar  to 
that  of  Herod,  in  the  appointment  of  the  high  priest,  was  pur- 
sued by  Archelaiis,  his  son;  and  next  by  the  Romans,  who, 
after  him,  took  the  government  of  the  Jews  into  their  own 
hands.  The  same  Josephus  shows  that  Herod  was  the  first  that 
locked  up  the  sacred  vesture  of  the  high  priest,  and  having  se- 
cured it  under  his  own  private  seal,  no  longer  permitted  the  high 
priests  to  have  it  at  their  disposal.  The  same  thing  was  done  by 
Archelaus  his  successor,  as  also  by  the  Romans.  It  may  suffice 
then,  to  have  said  thus  much,  in  proof  of  another  prophecy,  which 
has  terminated  in  the  appearance  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
Most  clearly  indeed  does  the  book  of  Daniel,  expressly  embracing 
a  number  of  certain  weeks,  until  the  government  of  Christ,  con- 
cerning which  we  have  treated  in  another  work,  predict  that  after 
the  termination  of  these,  the  sacred  unction  amongst  the  Jews 
should  be  totally  abolished.  And  this  is  evidently  proved  to  have 
been  fulfilled  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  birth.  Let  this  be  suffi- 
cient, however,  as  a  necessary  preliminary,  to  establish  the  truth 
in  reference  to  the  times. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


On  the  discrepancy  irhich  is  supposed  to  exist  in  the  Gospels,  ie 
specting  the  genealogy  of  Christ. 

As  the  genealogy  of  Christ  is  differently  given  to  us  by  Mat- 
thew and  Luke,  and  they  are  supposed  by  the  generality  to  disa- 
gree in  their  statements ;  and  as  every  believer,  for  want  of  know- 
ing the  truth,  has  been  led  to  apply  some  investigation  to  explain 
the  passages,  we  may  also  subjoin  the  account  which  has  come 


32  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

down  to  us.  We  refer  to  the  history  wliich  has  been  handea 
down  on  these  passages  by  Africanus,  in  an  epistle  to  Aristides, 
respecting  the  harmony  of  the  genealogy  of  the  gospels.  After 
having  refuted  the  opinions  of  others  as  forced  and  fictitious,  he 
sets  forth  the  account  that  he  had  ascertained  himself,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words.  "  It  was  customary  in  Israel  to  calculate  the 
names  of  the  generations,  either  according  to  nature,  or  accord- 
ing to  the  law;  according  to  nature,  by  the  succession  of  legitimate 
offspring ;  according  to  the  law,  when  another  raised  children  to 
the  name  of  a  brother  who  had  died  childless.  For  as  the  hope 
of  a  resurrection  was  not  yet  clearly  given,  they  imitated  the  pro- 
mise which  was  to  take  place  by  a  kind  of  mortal  resurrection, 
with  a  view  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  the  person  who  had  died. 
Since  then,  there  are  some  of  those  who  are  inserted  in  this  gene- 
alogical table,  that  succeed  each  other  in  the  natural  order  of 
father  and  son,  some  again  that  were  born  of  others,  and  were  as- 
cribed to  others  by  name,  both  the  real  and  reputed  fathers  have 
been  recorded.  Thus,  neither  of  the  gospels  has  made  a  false 
statement,  whether  calculating  in  the  order  of  nature,  or  accord- 
ing to  law.  For  the  families  descended  from  Solomon,  and  those 
from  Nathan,  were  so  intermingled,  by  substitutions  in  the  place 
of  those  who  had  died  childless,  by  second  marriages  and  the  rais- 
ing up  of  seed,  that  the  sajne  persons  are  justly  considered,  as  in 
one  respect,  belonging  to  the  one  of  these,  and  in  another  respect 
belonging  to  others.  Hence  it  is,  that  both  of  these  accounts  being 
true,  viz.  of  those  who  were  reputed  fathers,  and  those  who  really 
were  fathers,  they  come  down  to  Joseph  with  considerable  intri- 
cacy, it  is  true,  but  with  great  accuracy.  That  this,  however, 
may  be  made  evident,  I  will  state  the  scries  of  generations.  If 
(in  the  genealogy  of  Matthew,)  you  reckon  the  generations  from 
David  through  Solomon,  Matthan,  who  begat  Jacob  the  father  of 
Joseph,  is  found  to  be  the  third  from  the  end.  But  if,  with  Luke, 
you  reckon  from  Nathan  the  son  of  David,  in  like  manner,  Melchi, 
whose  son  was  Eli,  the  father  of  Joseph,  will  be  found  to  be  the 
third. '  As  Joseph,  then,  is  our  proposed  object,  we  are  to  show 
how  it  happened  that  each  is  recorded  as  his  father ;  both  Jacob, 
as  deduced  from  Solomon,  and  Eli  from  Nathan ;  also,  how  it  hap- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  33 

pened  that  these  two,  Jacob  and  Eli,  were  brothers ;  and  more- 
over, how  the  fathers  of  these,  Matthan  and  Melchi,  being  of 
different  famiUes,  are  proved  to  be  the  grandfathers  of  Joseph. 

Matthan  and  Melchi,  having  married  in  succession  the  same 
woman,  had  children,  who  were  brothers  by  the  same  mother,  as 
the  law  did  not  prohibit  a  widow,  whether  she  became  such  by 
divorce,  or  by  the  death  of  her  husband,  to  marry  again.  Mat- 
than, therefore,  who  traces  his  lineage  from  Solomon,  first  had 
Jacob,  by  Estha,  for  this  is  her  name  as  handed  down  by  tradition. 
Matthan  dying,  and  Melchi,  who  traces  his  descent  from  Nathan, 
though  he  was  of  the  same  tribe,  but  of  another  family,  having 
as  before  said,  married  her,  had  a  son  Eli.  Thus,  then,  we  shall 
find  the  two  of  different  families,  Jacob  and  Eh,  brothers  by  the 
same  mother.  Of  these,  the  one  Jacob,  on  the  death  of  his  bro- 
ther, marrying  his  widow,  became  the  father  of  a  third,  viz.  Jo- 
seph ;  his  son  both  by  nature  and  calculation.  Wherefore,  it  is 
written,  Jacob  begat  Joseph.  But  according  to  the  law,  he  was 
the  son  of  Eh,  for  Jacob  being  his  brother,  raised  up  seed  to  him. 
Wherefore,  the  genealogy  traced  also  through  him,  will  not  be 
rendered  void,  which,  according  to  Matthew,  is  given  thus — "  but 
Jacob  begat  Joseph."  But  Luke,  on  the  other  hand,  says,  "  who  was 
the  son,  as  was  supposed,  (for  this  he  also  adds,)  the  son  of  Joseph, 
the  son  of  Eli,  the  son  of  Melchi."  For  it  was  not  possible  to  ex- 
press the  legal  genealogy  more  distinctly,  so  that  he  entirely  omits 
the  expression,  "  he  begat,'''  in  a  generation  like  this,  until  the  end ; 
having  traced  it  back  as  far  as  Adam,  "  who  was  the  son  of  God," 
he  resolves  the  whole  scries  by  referring  back  to  God.  Neither 
is  this  incapable  of  proof,  nor  is  it  an  idle  conjecture.  For  the  re- 
latives of  our  Lord,  according  to  the  flesh,  whether  to  display 
their  own  illustrious  origin,  or  simply  to  show  the  fact,  but  at  any 
rate  adhering  strictly  to  the  truth,  have  also  handed  down  the 
following  accounts  :  That  robbers  of  Idumea,  attacking  Ascalon, 
a  city  of  Palestine,  led  Antipater  away  captive  together  with 
other  booty,  from  the  temple  of  Apollo,  which  was  built  close  to  the 
walls.  He  was  the  son  of  one  Herod,  a  minister  of  the  temple. 
The  priest,  however,  not  being  able  to  pay  the  ransom  for  his  son, 
Antipater  was  trained  up  in  the  practices  of  the  Idumeans,  and 
E 


34  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

afterwards  in  great  favour  with  Hyrcanus  the  high  priest  of  Ju- 
dea.  He  was  subsequently  sent  by  Hyrcanus  on  an  embassy  to 
Pompey,  and  having  restored  the  kingdom  to  him,  which  had 
been  invaded  by  Aristobulus,  the  brother  of  the  latter,  Antipatcr 
himself  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  nominated  the  procurator  of 
Palestine.  Antipater,  however,  having  been  treacherously  slain,  by 
those  who  envied  his  good  fortune,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Herod. 
He  was  afterwards,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  appointed  king  of 
the  Jews,  under  Antony  and  Augustus.  His  sons  were  Herod  and 
the  other  tetrarchs.  These  accounts  of  the  Jews  also  coincide 
with  those  of  the  Greeks.  But,  as  the  genealogies  of  the  Hebrews 
had  been  regularly  kept  in  the  archives  until  then,  and  also  of 
those  who  referred  back  as  far  as  the  ancient  proselytes ;  as  for 
mstance,  to  Achior  the  Ammonite,  and  Ruth  the  Moabitess,  and 
to  those  that  were  intermixed  with  the  Israelites  at  their  depar- 
ture from  Egypt ;  and  as  the  lineage  of  the  Israelites  contributed 
nothing  to  Herod's  advantage,  he  was  goaded  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  ignoble  extraction,  and  committed  all  these  records  of 
their  families  to  the  flames.  Thinking  that  himself  might  ap- 
pear of  noble  origin,  by  the  fact  that  no  one  else  would  be  able 
to  trace  his  pedigree  by  the  public  records,  back  to  patriarchs  or 
proselytes,  and  to  those  strangers  that  were  called  georas.*  A 
few  however  of  the  careful,  either  remembering  the  names,  or 
having  it  in  their  power  in  some  other  way,  by  means  of  copies,  to 
have  private  records  of  their  own,  gloried  in  the  idea  of  preserving 
the  memory  of  their  noble  extraction.  Of  these  were  the  above- 
mentioned  persons,  called  desposyni,t  on  account  of  their  affinity 
to  the  family  of  our  Saviour.  These  coming  from  Nazara  and 
Cochaba,  villages  of  Judea,  to  the  other  parts  of  the  world,  explain- 

»  The  word  r^.p..?,  used  here  by  Eusebius,  is  taken  from  the  Septuagint,  Exod. 
lii.  19.  It  is  evidently  a  corruption  of  the  Hebrew  word  n.,  a  stranger,  and  is  inter- 
preted by  Theodoret,  in  loc.  y.-P-  -"  -r— ^  .po..,=p....,  he  called  the  prose- 
lyte  y'-''^f-'u  stranger. 

t  The  word  desposynos  signifies,  in  general,  one  who  belongs  to  a  master;  it  is 
here  applied  according  to  the  usage  of  the  primitive  church,  to  indicate  the  rela- 
lives  of  our  Lord,  as  those  who  were  the  Lord's  according  to  the  flesh,     buidas 


here 
lives 
explains  the  word    =r».5  tov  Jso-b-otow 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  35 

ed  the  aforesaid  genea.^gy  from  the  book  of  daily  records,  as 
faithfully  as  possible.  Whether,  then,  the  matter  be  thus  or  other- 
wise, as  far  as  I  and  every  impartial  judge  would  say,  no  one 
certainly  could  discover  a  more  obvious  interpretation.  And 
tliis,  then,  may  suffice  on  the  subject ;  for,  although  it  be  not  sup- 
ported by  testimony,  we  have  nothing  to  advance,  eitiicr  better  or 
more  consistent  with  truth.  The  gospel,  altogether,  states  the 
truth."  At  the  close  of  the  same  epistle,  this  writer,  (Africanus,) 
adds  the  foUovvdng :  "  Matthan,  whose  descent  is  traced  to  Solo- 
mon, begat  Jacob,  Matthan  dying,  Melchi,  whose  lineage  is  from 
Nathan,  by  marrying  the  widow  of  the  former,  had  Eli.  Hence, 
Eli  and  Jacob  were  brothers  by  the  same  mother.  Eli  dying 
childless,  Jacob  raised  up  seed  to  him,  having  Joseph,  according 
to  nature  belonging  to  himself,  but  by  the  law  to  Eli.  Thus,  Jo- 
seph was  the  son  of  both."  So  far  Africanus ;  and  the  lineage  of 
Joseph  thus  being  traced,  Mary,  also,  at  the  same  time,  as  far  as 
can  be,  is  evinced  to  be  of  the  same  tribe,  since,  by  the  Mosaic 
law,  intermarriages  among  different  tribes  were  not  permitted. 
For  the  injunction  is,  to  marry  one  of  the  same  kindred,  and  the 
same  family,  so  that  the  inheritance  may  not  be  transferred  from 
tribe  to  tribe.     And  this  may  suffice,  also,  on  the  present  point. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HerocVs  cruelty  against  the  infants,  and  his  uretched  end. 

Christ,  then,  having  been  born,  according  to  the  prophecies,  in 
Bethlehem  of  Judea,  about  the  times  that  had  been  revealed,  He- 
rod was  not  a  little  alarmed  at  the  intelligence.  Having  ascer- 
tained, on  the  inquiry  of  the  eastern  Magi,  where  the  king  of  the 
Jews  should  be  born,  as  they  had  seen  his  star,  and  this  had  been 
the  cause  of  so  long  a  journey  to  them,  glowing  with  zeal  to  wor- 
ship the  infant  as  God ;  he  was  under  great  apprehensions,  as  sup- 
posing his  own  kingdom  to  be  in  danger.  Having,  therefore, 
inquired  of  the  doctors  of  the  law  in  the  nation,  where  they  ex- 
pected Christ  should  be  horn,  and  ascertained  the  prophecy  of 


S6  ECCI-ESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Micah,  announcing  tliat  it  would  be  in  Bethlehem,  in  a  single 
edict  he  orders  the  male  infants  from  two  years  and  below  to  be 
slain,  both  in  Bethlehem  and  all  its  parts,  according  to  the  time 
that  he  had  accurately  ascertained  from  the  Magi;  thinking  at 
all  events,  as  seemed  very  probable,  that  he  would  carry  off 
Jesus  also,  in  the  same  destruction  with  those  of  his  own  age. 
The  child,  however,  anticipated  the  snare,  being  carried  into 
Egypt  by  his  parents,  who  had  been  informed  by  the  appearance 
of  an  angel  of  what  was  about  to  happen.  These  same  facts  are 
also  stated  in  the  sacred  text  of  the  gospel. 

It  is  also  worth  while  to  observe  the  reward  which  Herod  re- 
ceived for  his  criminal  audacity  against  Christ  and  the  infants ; 
how,  without  the  least  delay,  the  Divine  justice  immediately  over- 
took him;  and  even  before  his  death,  exhibited  the  prelude  to 
those  punishments  that  awaited  him  after  death.  It  is  not  possi- 
ble for  me  here,  to  relate  in  what  ways  he  tarnished  what  was 
supposed  to  be  the  felicity  of  his  reign,  by  the  successive  calami- 
ties of  his  family,  the  slaughter  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  the 
rest  of  his  kindred,  allied  to  him  by  the  closest  and  most  tender 
relations.  The  whole  subject  of  these  particulars,  which  casts 
all  the  representations  of  tragedy  into  the  shade,  has  been  han- 
dled to  its  full  extent  in  the  histories  written  by  Josephus.  But 
to  understand  in  what  manner  also,  the  chastisement  of  Heaven 
scourged  him  onwards  to  the  period  of  death,  it  may  not  be  less 
proper  to  hear  the  words  of  the  same  author,  describing  the  end 
of  his  life,  in  the  seventeenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  as  follows: 
"  But  the  disease  of  Herod  became  daily  more  virulent,  God  in- 
flicting punishment  for  his  crimes.  For  it  was  a  slow  fire,  not  only 
exhibiting  to  those  who  touched  him  a  heat  in  proportion  to  the 
internal  wasting  of  his  body,  but  there  was  also  an  excessive  de- 
sire and  craving  after  food,  whilst  no  one  dared  to  refuse.  This 
was  attended  with  swellings  of  the  intestines,  and  especially  ex- 
cessive pains  of  the  colon.  A  moist  and  transparent  humour  also 
covered  his  feet.  Similar  also  was  the  disease  about  the  ventri- 
cle, so  that  the  corruption  causing  worms  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
abdomen,  there  was  an  increased  violence  of  breathing,  which, 
of  itself  was  very  offensive;  both  on  account  of  the  disagreeable 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  37 

effluvia,  and  the  rapidity  of  the  respiration.  He  was  also  so  con- 
vulsed in  every  part  of  his  body,  that  it  added  an  almost  insupera- 
ble strength.  It  was  said,  therefore,  by  those  who  are  conversant 
with  divine  things,  and  to  whose  wisdom  it  appertained  to  declare 
such  things,  that  God  inflicted  tliis  punishment  upon  the  king  on 
account  of  his  great  impiety." 

These  are  the  particulars  which  are  stated  by  the  aforesaid 
writer,  in  the  book  mentioned ;  and  in  the  second  book  of  his  his- 
tory, he  gives  very  much  the  same  account  concerning  him,  in 
the  foUowing  words:  "  Then  the  disease  pervading  his  whole 
body,  distracted  it  by  various  torments.     For  the  fever  became 
more  intense,  the  itching  of  the  whole  surface  was  insupportable, 
and  the  pains  of  the  lower  abdomen  were  incessant.     On  his  feet 
were  swellings,  as  of  one  labouring  with  the  dropsy.     There  was 
also  an  inflammation  of  the  ventricle,  and  a  putrefaction  that  gene- 
rated worms.     Beside  this,  a  more  violent  breathing,  and  difficult 
respiration,  and  convulsions  of  all  the  limbs ;  so  that  they  who  re- 
ferred to  a  divine  agency,  said  that  this  disease  was  a  punish- 
ment    But,  though  struggling  with  so  many  sutFerings,  he  never- 
theless clung  to  life,  and  did  not  relinquish  the  hope  of  deliverance, 
but  was  ever  devising  new  remedies.    Crossing  the  Jordan,  there- 
fore, he  used  the  warm  baths  near  CaUirhoe.  These  flow  into  the 
lake  Asphaltites,  (Dead  sea,)  but  by  reason  of  their  sweetness, 
they  are  also  potable.     As  the  physicians  here  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  use  some  soothing  application,  his  whole  body  was  bathed 
in  tepid  oil,  in  a  bathing  tub  tilled  with  oil  for  that  purpose,  when 
he  was  so  overcome  that  his  eyes  began  to  break,  and  turn  up 
like  one  dead.     His  servants  then  being  alarmed  and  raising  an 
outcry,  he  indeed  returned  to  himself  at  the  noise;  but  after  that, 
desnairing  of  recovery,  he  ordered  about  fifty  drachms  to  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  soldiers,  and  considerable  sums  to  be  given  to  his 
generals  and  friends.     Returning,  he  came^to  Jericho;  where, 
being  seized  with  despair,  and  now  only  threatening  death  him- 
self, he  proceeded  to  a  crowning  act  of  most  nefarious  character. 
He 'collected  the  distinguished  men  of  every  village  from  the  whole 
of  Judea,  and  commanded  them  to  be  shut  up  in  what  was  called 
the  Hippodrome.     He  then  sent  for  Salome,  his  sister,  and  hei 


38  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

husband  Alexander.  I  know,"  said  he,  "  that  the  Jews  will  rejoice 
at  my  death ;  but  I  may  be  lamented  by  means  of  others,  and  have 
splendid  funeral  rites,  if  you  are  willing  to  perform  my  commands. 
As  soon  as  I  have  expired,  surround  these  men  that  are  now  un- 
der guard  with  soldiers,  as  soon  as  possible,  and  slay  them,  that 
all  Judea  and  every  house,  though  against  their  will,  may  be  com-' 
pelled  to  weep  at  my  death."  And  soon  after,  he  adds,  "  again, 
he  was  so  tortured,  partly  by  the  want  of  food  and  by  a  convul- 
sive cough,  that,  overpowered  by  his  pains,  he  contemplated  an- 
ticipating his  fate.  Having  taken  an  apple,  he  also  demanded  a 
knife,  for  he  was  accustomed  to  cut  and  eat  it.  Then,  looking 
around,  lest  there  should  be  any  one  to  hinder  him,  he  raised  his 
right  arm  as  if  to  strike  himself."  The  same  author,  in  addition 
to  these,  says,  "  that  he  slew  another  of  his  own  sons  before  his 
death,  being  the  third  that  had  already  been  slain  by  his  orders, 
and  that  immediately  after  this,  he  breathed  out  his  life,  not  with- 
out excessive  torture." 

Such,  then,  was  the  end  of  Herod,  who  thus  suffered  the  just 
punishment  for  the  crimes  that  he  committed  in  the  murder  of  the 
children  of  Bethlehem,  when  he  designed  the  destruction  of  our 
Saviour.  After  this,  an  angel  appearing  in  a  dream  to  Joseph, 
who  was  then  in  Egypt,  directed  him  to  return  with  the  child 
and  his  mother,  revealing  to  him  that  they  were  dead  who  had 
sought  the  life  of  the  infant.  To  this  accoimt  the  Evangelist 
adds :  "  But  he  hearing  that  Archelaus  reigned  in  Judea,  in  the 
place  of  Herod,  his  father,  was  afraid  to  go  thither,  and  being 
warned  in  a  dream,  he  retired  into  the  parts  of  Galilee." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Of  the  times  of  Pilate. 


The  same  historian  also  agrees  with  the  statements  respecting 
the  government  of  Archelaus  after  Herod's  death;  and  relates  m 
what  manner  he  succeeded  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Jews,  by  the 
will  of  Herod,  his  father,  and  the  confirmation  of  it  by  Cesar  Au~ 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  39 

gustus ;  as  also,  that  he  having  lost  his  kingdom  after  ten  years, 
his  brothers  Philip  and  Herod,  the  younger,  together  with  Lysa- 
nias,  had  the  government  of  their  tetrarchies.  The  same  author, 
in  the  eighteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  says,  "  that  about  the 
twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  (for  he  succeeded  to  the 
empire  after  Augustus,  who  had  reigned  fifty -seven  years,)  Pontius 
Pilate  was  appointed  over  Judea,  and  remained  there  upon  the 
whole  ten  years,  almost  to  the  death  of  Tiberius.  Hence  the 
fraud  of  those  persons  is  plainly  proved,  who  lately,  and  at  other 
times  have  given  currency  to  certain  spurious  acts  against  our 
Saviour.  In  which  the  very  time  of  the  date  proves  the  false- 
hood of  the  inventors.  For  in  the  fourth  consulship  of  Tiberius, 
which  was  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign,  those  things  are  said 
to  have  occurred,  which  they  have  dared  to  say  respecting  his 
salutary  surtering.  At  which  time,  indeed,  it  is  plain,  that  Pilate 
was  not  yet  appointed  over  Judea,  if  Josephus  is  to  be  credited, 
who  plainly  says,  in  the  work  already  cited,  that  Pilate  was  ap- 
pointed procurator  of  Judea,  by  Tiberius,  in  the  twelfth  year  of 
his  reign. 


CHAPTER  X. 


llie  high  priests  of  the  Jews,  under  ichom  Christ  promulgated  his 
doctrines. 

It  was  about  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  ac- 
cording to  the  Evangelist,  in  the  fourth  year,  that  Pilate  was 
procurator  of  Judea,  when  Herod,  Lysanias,  and  Pliilip,  as  te- 
trarchs,  held  the  government  of  the  rest  of  Judea,  when  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  was  in  his  thirtieth  year,  that  he 
came  to  the  baptism  of  John,  and  then  made  the  beginning  of 
promulgating  his  gospel.  The  holy  Scriptures,  moreover,  relate 
that  he  passed  the  whole  time  of  his  public  ministry  under  the 
high  priests  Annas  and  Caiaphas;  intimating,  that  during  the  years 
of  their  priesthood,  the  whole  time  of  his  ministry  was  termi- 
nated.   For,  beginning  with  the  pontificate  of  Annas,  and  continu- 


u 


40  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ing  after  that  of  Caiaphas,  the  whole  of  this  interval  does  not 
even  give  us  four  years.  The  rites,  indeed,  of  the  law,  having 
been  already  abolished  since  that  period,  with  it  were  also  an- 
nulled the  privileges  of  the  priesthood,  viz.  of  continuing  it  for 
life,  and  of  hereditary  descent.  Under  the  Roman  governors, 
however,  different  persons  at  different  times  were  appointed  as 
high  priests,  who  did  not  continue  in  office  more  than'  a  year. 
Josephus,  indeed,  relates  that  there  were  four  high  priests  in 
succession  from  Annas  to  Caiaphas.  Thus,  in  his  book  of  Anti- 
quities, he  writes  in  the  following  manner :  "  Valerius  Gratus, 
having  put  a  period  to  the  priesthood  of  Annas,  promoted  Ishmael, 
the  son  of  Baphi,  to  the  office ;  and,  removing  him  also,  not  long 
after,  he  appointed  Eleazar.  the  son  of  Annas,  who  had  been 
high  priest,  to  the  office.  After  the  lapse  of  a  year,  removing 
also  him,  he  transfers  the  priesthood  to  Simon,  the  son  of  Cami- 
thus.  But  he,  also,  did  not  continue  to  hold  the  honour  longer 
than  a  year,  when  he  Avas  succeeded  by  Josephus,  surnamed 
Caiaphas."  Hence  the  whole  time  of  our  Saviour's  ministry  is 
proved  not  to  embrace  four  entire  years ;  there  being  four  high 
priests  for  four  years,  from  Annas  to  the  appointment  of  Caia- 
phas, each  of  which  held  the  office  a  year  respectively.  Caia- 
phas, indeed,  is  justly  shown,  by  the  gospel  narrative,  to  have 
been  high  priest  in  that  year  in  which  our  Saviour's  sufferings 
were  finished.  With  which  present  observation,  the  time  of 
Christ's  ministry  is  also  proved  to  agree.  Our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  not  very  long  after  the  commencement  of  his  pubhc 
ministry,  elected  the  twelve,  whom  h-e  called  Apostles,  by  way  of 
eminence  over  the  rest  of  his  disciples.  He  also  appointed 
seventy  others  beside  these,  whom  he  sent,  two  and  two,  before 
him  into  every  place  and  city  whither  he  himself  was  about  to  ga 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  41 


CHAPTER  XI. 


The  testimonies  respecting  John  the  Baptist  and  Christ 

As  it  was  not  long  before  this  that  John  the  Baptist  was  be- 
headed by  Herod  the  younger,  the  holy  Scriptures  record  the  fact, 
which  is  also  confirmed  by  Josephus,  who  has  expressly  made  men- 
tion of  Herodias  by  name,  and  the  circumstance  of  her  being  mar- 
ried to  Herod,  though  she  was  the  wife  of  his  brother ;  Herod 
having  first  divorced  his  former  lawful  wife.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Aretas,  king  of  Arabia  Petrgea.  But  having  forced  Hero- 
dias from  her  husband  yet  living,  and  on  whose  account  also  he 
slew  John,  he  was  involved  in  a  war  with  Aretas  for  the  disgrace 
inflicted  on  his  daughter;  in  which  war  he  relates  that,  when 
coming  to  battle,  the  army  of  Herod  was  completely  destroyed ; 
and  that  he  suffered  all  this,  on  account  of  the  crime  that  he  com- 
mitted against  John.  But  the  same  Josephus,  in  this  account,  in 
which  he  confesses  that  John  was  a  most  righteous  man,  also  bears 
testimony  to  what  is  recorded  of  him  in  the  narratives  of  the  gos- 
pels. He  relates,  also,  that  Herod  lost  his  kingdom  on  account  of 
the  same  Herodias,  and  that  he  was  driven  into  exile  with  her, 
and  condemned  to  dwell  at  Vienna,  a  city  of  Gaul.  These  facts 
are  stated  by  him  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  where 
in  the  same  paragraphs,  he  also  writes  thus  concerning  John: 
"  To  some  of  the  Jews,  the  army  of  Herod  seemed  to  have  been 
destroyed  by  God;  who  thus,  with  signal  justice,  avenged  John, 
called  the  Baptist.  For  Herod  slew  him,  a  good  man,  and  one 
who  exhorted  the  Jews  to  the  practice  of  virtue,  and  with  the 
pursuit  of  righteousness  and  piety  towards  God,  to  receive  bap- 
tism. For  this  baptism  appeared  to  have  been  imparted  to  him 
for  this  object,  not  with  the  view  to  avoid  a  few  trifling  sins,  but 
for  the  purification  of  the  body,  as  far  as  the  mind  had  been  first 
purified  by  righteousness. 

"  And  when  many  others  flocked  to  him,  for  they  were  also 
much  delighted  with  listening  to  his  discourses,  Herod,  dreading 
the  great  confidence  of  men  in  him,  lest,  perhaps,  he  might  stimu- 
late them  to  a  revolt,  (for  they  seemed  disposed  to  do  any  thing 
F 


42  •  ECCLESLVSTICAL  HISTORY. 

at  his  suggestion,)  considered  it  much  better,  before  any  change 
should  be  attempted  by  him,  to  anticipate  by  destroying  him ; 
than  after  a  revolution,  when  involved  in  difficulties,  to  repent 
when  it  was  too  late.  In  consequence  of  Herod's  suspicions,  there- 
fore, he  was  sent  in  bonds  to  the  aforesaid  prison  of  Machasrus, 
and  there  slain."  After  relating  these  things  concerning  John, 
Josephus  in  the  same  work,  also  makes  mention  of  our  Saviour  in 
the  following  manner:  "About  the  same  time,  there  was  a  certain 
Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  indeed  it  is  proper  to  call  him  a  man.  For 
he  was  a  performer  of  extraordinary  deeds :  a  teacher  of  men, 
that  received  his  doctrine  with  delight;  and  he  attached  to  him- 
self many  of  the  Jews,  many  also  of  the  Greeks.  This  was  Christ. 
Pilate  having  inflicted  the  punishment  of  the  cross  upon  him,  on 
the  accusation  of  our  principal  men,  those  who  had  been  attached 
to  him  before  did  not,  however,  afterwards  cease  to  love  him: 
for  he  appeared  to  them  ahve  again  on  the  third  day,  according  to 
the  holy  prophets,  who  had  declared  these  and  innumerable  other 
wonderful  things  respecting  him.  The  race  of  the  Christians,  who 
derive  their  name  from  him,  likewise  still  continues."  When  such 
testimony  as  this  is  transmitted  to  us  by  an  historian  who  sprung 
from  the  Hebrews  themselves,  both  respecting  John  the  Baptist 
and  our  Saviour,  what  subterfuge  can  be  left,  to  prevent  those 
from  being  convicted  destitute  of  all  shame,  who  have  forged  the 
acts  against  them  1     This  however,  may  suffice  on  this  subject. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Of  the  disciples  of  our  Lord. 

The  names  of  our  Saviour's  apostles  are  sufficiently  obvious  to 
every  one,  from  his  gospels ;  but  of  the  seventy  disciples,  no  cata- 
logue is  given  any  where.  Barnabas,  indeed,  is  said  to  have  been 
one  of  tiiem,  of  whom  there  is  distinguished  notice  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles;  and  also  in  St.  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Galatians. 
Sosthenes,  who  sent  letters  with  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  is  said 
to  have  been  one  of  these.     Clement,  in  the  filth  of  his  Hypoty- 


ECCIiESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  43 

poses  or  Institutions,  in  which  he  also  mentions  Cephas,  of  whom 
Paul  also  says,  that  he  came  to  Antioch,  and  "  that  he  withstood 
him  to  his  face ;" — says,  that  one  who  had  the  same  name  with 
Peter  the  apostle,  was  one  of  the  seventy ;  and  that  Matthias,  wlio 
was  numbered  with  the  apostles  in  place  of  Judas,  and  he  who 
had  bean  honoured  to  be  a  candidate  with  him,  is  also  said  to  have 
been  deemed  worthy  of  the  same  calling  with  the  seventy.  They 
also  say  that  Thaddeus  was  one  of  them ;  concerning  whom,  I  shall 
presently  relate  a  narrative  that  has  come  down  to  us.  More- 
over, if  any  one  observe  with  attention,  he  will  find  more  disciples 
of  our  Saviour  than  the  seventy,  on  the  testimony  of  Paul,  who  says, 
that  "he  appeared  after  his  resurrection,  first  to  Cephas,  then  to 
the  twelve,  and  after  these  to  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,"  Of 
whom,  he  says,  "  some  are  fallen  asleep,"  but  the  greater  part  were 
living  at  the  time  he  wrote.  Afterwards,  he  says,  he  appeared  to 
James ;  he,  however,  was  not  merely  one  of  these  disciples  of  our 
Saviour,  but  he  was  one  of  his  brethren.  Lastly,  when  beside  these, 
there  still  was  a  considerable  number  who  were  apostles  in  imitation 
of  the  twelve,  such  as  Paul  himself  was,  he  adds,  saying  "  after- 
wards he  appeared  to  all  the  apostles." 

This  account  may  suffice  respecting  these  apostles ;  but  the 
history  of  Thaddeus,  already  mentioned  by  us,  was  as  follows. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Narrative  respecting  the  prince  of  Edessa. 

The  divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  being  famed 
•abroad  among  all  men,  in  consequence  of  his  wonder-working 
power,  attracted  immense  numbers,  both  from  abroad  and  from 
the  remotest  parts  of  Judea,  with  the  hope  of  being  cured  of 
their  diseases  and  various  afflictions.  Agbarus,  therefore,  who 
reigned  over  the  nations  beyond  the  Euphrates  with  great  glory, 
and  who  had  been  wasted  away  with  a  disease,  both  dreadful 
and  incurable  by  human  means  when  he  heard  the  name  of  Je- 
sas  frequently  mentioned,  and  his  miracles  unanimously  attested 


44  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

by  all,  sent  a  suppliant  message  to  him,  by  a  letter-carrier,  en- 
treating a  deliverance  from  his  disease.  But,  though  he  did  not 
yield  to  his  call  at  that  time,  he  nevertheless  condescended  to 
write  liim  a  private  letter,  and  to  send  one  of  his  disciples  to  heal 
his  disorder ;  at  the  same  time,  promising  salvation  to  him  and  all 
his  relatives.  And  it  was  not  long,  indeed,  before  the  ^promise 
was  fulfilled.  After  the  resurrection,  however,  and  his  return  to 
the  heavens,  Thomas,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  by  a  divine  im 
pulse,  sent  Thaddeus,  who  was  also  one  of  the  seventy  disciples 
to  Edessa,  as  a  herald  and  evangelist  of  the  doctrines  of  Christ 
And  by  his  agency  all  the  promises  of  our  Saviour  were  ful 
filled.  Of  this,  also,  we  have  the  evidence,  in  a  written  an 
swer,  taken  from  the  public  records  of  the  city  of  Edessa,  then 
under  the  government  of  the  king.  For  in  the  public  registers 
there,  which  embrace  the  ancient  history  and  the  transactions  of 
Agbarus,  these  circumstances  respecting  him .  are  found  still  pre- 
served down  to  the  present  day.  There  is  nothing,  however, 
like  hearing  the  epistles  themselves,  taken  by  us  from  the  archives, 
and  the  style  of  it  as  it  has  been  literally  translated  by  us,  from 
the  Syriac  language: 

COPY    OF  THE    LETTER    WRITTEN    BY  KING  AGBARUS,  TO  JESUS,  AND 
SENT  TO  HIM,  AT  JERUSALEM,  BY  ANANIAS,  THE  COURIER. 

Agbarus,  prince  of  Edessa,  sends  greeting  to  Jesus  the  excel- 
lent Saviour,  who  has  appeared  in  the  borders  of  Jerusalem.  1 
have  heard  the  reports  respecting  thee  and  thy  cures,  as  performed 
by  thee  without  medicines  and  without  the  use  of  herbs.  For  as  it 
is  said,  thou  causest  the  blind  to  see  again,  the  lame  to  walk,  and 
thou  cleanscst  the  lepers,  and  thou  castest  out  impure  spirits  and 
demons,  and  thou  healest  those  that  are  tormented  by  long  disease, 
and  thou  raisest  the  dead.  And  hearing  all  these  things  of  thee,  I 
concluded  in  my  mind  one  of  two  things :  either  that  thou  art 
God,  and  having  descended  from  heaven,  doest  these  things,  or  else 
doing  them,  thou  art  the  son  of  God.  Therefore,  now  I  have  written 
and  besought  thee  to  visit  me,  and  to  heal  the  disease  with  which 
I  am  afflicted.     I  have,  also,  heard  that  the  Jews  murmur  against 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  45 

thee,  and  are  plotting  to  injure  thee ;  I  have,  however,  a  very- 
small  but  noble  state,  which  is  sufficient  for  us  both." 

This  epistle,  he  thus  wrote,  whilst  yet  somewhat  enlightened 
by  the  rays  of  divine  truth.  It  is,  also,  worth  the  time  to  learn 
the  epistle  sent  to  him  from  Jesus,  by  the  same  bearer,  which, 
though  very  brief,  is  yet  very  nervous,  written  in  the  following 
style : 

THE  ANSWER  OF  JESUS,  TO  KING  AGBARUS,  BY  THE  COURIER,  ANANIAS. 

Blessed  art  thou,  O  Agbarus,  who,  without  seeing,  hast  believ- 
ed in  me.  For  it  is  written  concerning  me,  that  they  who  have 
seen  me  will  not  believe,  that  they  who  have  not  seen,  m.ay  be- 
lieve and -live.  But  in  regard  to  what  thou  hast  written,  that  I 
should  comiC  to  thee,  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  fulfil  all 
things  here,  for  which  I  have  been  sent.  And  after  this  fulfil- 
ment, thus  to  be  received  again  by  Him  that  sent  me.  And  after 
I  have  been  received  up,  I  will  send  to  thee  a  certain  one  of  my 
disciples,  that  he  may  heal  thy  affliction,  and  give  life  to  thee  and 
to  those  who  are  with  thee." 

To  these  letters  there  was,  also,  subjoined  in  the  Syriac  lan- 
guage :  "  After  the  ascension  of  Jesus,  Judas,  who  is  also  called 
Thomas,  sent  him  Thaddeus,  the  apostle,  one  of  the  seventy; 
who,  when  he  came,  remained  at  the  house  of  Tobias,  the  son 
of  Tobias.  When  the  report  was  circulated  concerning  his  ar- 
rival, and  he  became  pubhcly  known  by  the  miracles  which  he 
performed,  it  was  communicated  to  Agbarus,  that  an  apostle  of 
Jesus  had  came  thither,  as  he  had  written.  Thaddeus,  therefore, 
began  in  the  power  of  God  to  heal  every  kind  of  disease  and  in- 
firmity ;  so  that  all  were  amazed.  But  when  Agbarus  heard  the 
great  deeds  and  miracles  which  he  performed,  and  how  he  healed 
men  in  the  name  and  pov»'er  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  began  to  suspect 
that  this  was  the  very  person  concerning  whom  Jesus  had  written, 
saying,  after  I  have  been  received  up  again,  I  will  send  to  thee 
one  of  my  disciples,  who  shall  heal  thy  affliction.  Having,  there- 
fore, sent  for  Tobias,  with  whom  he  staid,  I  have  heard,  said  he, 
that  a  certain  powerful  man,  who  hath  come  from  Jerusalem,  is 
staying  at  thy  house,  and  is  performing  many  cures  in  the  name 


46  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  Jesus.  He  answered,  Yea,  my  lord,  a  certain  stranger  has 
conne,  who  hath  lodged  with  me,  and  is  performing  many  wonders. 
And  he  replied.  Bring  him  to  me.  Tobias,  then,  returning  to 
Thaddeus,  said  to  him,  Agbarus  the  king  having  sent  for  me,  has 
told  me  to  conduct  thee  to  hhn,  that  thou  mayest  heal  his  disorder. 
And  Thaddeus  replied,  I  will  go,  since  I  have  been  sent  with  power, 
to  him.  Tobias,  therefore,  arose  early  the  next  day,  and  taking 
Thaddeus  with  him,  came  to  Agbarus.  When  he  came,  his  nobtes 
were  present,  and  stood  around.  Immediately  on  his  entrance, 
something  extraordinary  appeared  to  Agbarus,  in  the  countenance 
of  the  apostle  Thaddeus ;  which  Agbarus  observing,  paid  him  re- 
verence. But  all  around  were  amazed ;  for  they  did  not  perceive 
the  vision  which  appeared  to  Agbarus  alone :  he  then  asked  x-^g- 
barus  whether  he  were  truly  a  disciple  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  who 
had  said  to  him,  I  will  send  one  of  my  disciples  to  thee,  who  will 
heal  thy  sickness,  and  will  give  hfe  to  thee  and  to  all  thy  connexions? 
And  Thaddeus  answered.  Since  thou  hast  had  great  confidence  in 
the  Lord  Jesus,  who  hath  sent  me,  therefore,  I  am  sent  to  thee.  And, 
moreover,  if  thou  believest  in  him,  with  increasing  faith,  the  pe- 
titions of  thy  heart  shall  be  granted  thee,  as  thou  believest.  And 
Agbarus  replied.  So  much  did  I  believe  in  him  that  I  had  form- 
ed the  resolution  to  take  forces,  in  order  to  destroy  those  Jews 
who  had  crucified  him,  liad  I  not  been  deterred  from  my  purpose 
by  a  regard  for  the  Roman  empire.  Thaddeus  replied.  Our 
Lord  and  God,  Jesus  the  Christ,  hath  fulfilled  the  will  of  his  Fa- 
ther, and  having  fulfilled  it,  was  taken  up  again  to  his  Father. 
Agbarus  saith  to  him,  I  have  believed  both  in  him  and  in  his  Fa- 
ther. Then  said  Thaddeus,  Therefore,  I  place  my  hand  upon 
thee  in  the  name  of  the  same  Lord  Jesus.  And  this  being  done, 
he  was  immediately  healed  of  the  sickness  and  sufferings  with 
which  he  was  afflicted.  And  Agbarus  was  amazed,  that  just  as 
he  had  heard  respecting  Jesus,  so  in  very  deed  he  received 
it  through  his  disciple  and  apostle  Thaddeus,  who  had  healed 
him  without  any  medicine  and  herbs,  and  not  only  him,  but  Ab- 
das  also,  the  son  of  Abdas,  who  was  afflicted  with  the  podagra. 
He  also,  approaching,  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  received  his  bene- 
diction, with  the  imposition  of  his  hand,  and  was  healed.     Many 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  47 

of  the  same  city  were  also  healed  b}^  the  same  apostle,  who  per- 
formed wonderful  and  great  deeds,  and  proclaimed  the  word  of 
God.  After  this,  said  Agbarus,  Thaddeus,  thou  doest  these  things 
by  the  power  of  God,  and  we  are  filled  with  wonder.  But,  be- 
side these  things,  I  request  thee,  also,  to  inform  me  respecting  the 
coming  of  Jesus,  how  he  was  born,  and  as  to  his  power,  with  what 
power  he  performed  these  things  which  we  have  heard.  And 
Thaddeus  answered.  Now,  indeed,  I  will  not  tell  thee,  since  I  have 
been  sent  to  proclaim  the  word  abroad ;  but  to-morrow  assemble 
all  thy  citizens,  and  before  them  I  will  proclaim  the  word  of  God, 
and  will  sow  among  them  the  word  of  life,  both  respecting  the 
coming  of  Jesus,  as  he  was,  and  respecting  his  mission,  and  for 
what  purpose  he  was  sent  by  the  Father ;  also,  concerning  the 
power  of  his  works,  and  the  mysteries  which  he  declared  in  the 
world ;  by  what  power,  also,  he  did  these  things,  concerning  his 
new  mode  of  preaching,  his  lowly  and  abject  condition,  his  humi- 
liation in  his  external  appearance,  how  he  humbled  himself,  and 
died,  and  lowered  his  divinity ;  what  things,  also,  he  suffered  from 
the  Jews ;  how  he  was  crucified,  and  descended  into  hell,  (hades,) 
and  burst  the  bars  which  had  never  yet  been  broken,  and  rose 
again,  and  also  raised  with  hhnself  the  dead  that  had  slept  for 
ages.  And  how  he  descended  alone,  but  ascended  with  a  great 
multitude  to  his  Father.  And  how  he  sitteth  at  the  right  hand 
of  God  and  the  Father,  with  glory,  in  the  heavens ;  and  how  he 
is  about  to  come  again  with  glory  and  power,  to  judge  the  living 
and  dead. — Agbarus,  therefore,  commanded  his  subjects  to  be 
called  early  in  the  morning,  and  to  hear  the  annunciation  of 
Thaddeus ;  and  after  this,  he  commanded  gold  and  silver  to  be 
given  him ;  but  he  would  not  receive  it,  saying,  If  we  have  left 
our  own,  how  shall  we  take  what  belongs  to  others?  These 
things  were  done  in  the  three  hundred  and  fortieth  year.  Which 
also,  we  have  literally  translated  from  the  Syriac  language,  op- 
portunely as  we  hope,  and  not  without  profit. 
.7 


BOOK   IT. 


PRELIMINARY. 

Whatsoever  particulars  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  premise  in 
this  Ecclesiastical  History,  both  respecting  the  divinity  of  the 
saving  word  and  the  antiquity  of  the  doctrines  which  we  teach, 
as  also  of  the  antiquity  of  that  evangelical  life  which  Christians 
lead,  these  particulars  we  have  already  discussed,  together  with 
the  circumstances  of  his  late  appearance  among  men,  of  his  suf- 
ferings, of  the  election  of  his  apostles,  and  have  exhibited  the 
proofs  in  the  condensed  subjects  of  the  preceding  book.  Let  us 
now,  also,  examine  the  circumstances  that  followed  his  ascension, 
presenting  some  from  the  divine  Scriptures,  and  others  from  such 
other  documents  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer. 


CHAPTER  L 

The  course  pursued  hy  the  Apostles  after  the  ascension  of  Christ. 

First  then,  in  the  place  of  Judas  the  traitor,  Matthias  was 
chosen  by  lot,  who,  as  was  shown  above,  was  also  one  of  the 
disciples  of  the  Lord.  There  were  appointed  also,  with  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  hands,  by  the  apostles,  approved  men,  unto 
the  office  of  deacons,  for  the  public  service ;  these  were  those 
seven  of  whom  Stephen  was  one.  He  was  the  first,  also,  after 
our  Lord,  who  at  the  time  of  ordination,  as  if  ordained  to  this 
very  purpose,  was  stoned  to  death  by  the  murderers  of  the  Lord 
And  thus  he  first  received  the  crown  answering  to  his  name,  of 
the  victorious  martyrs  of  Christ.  Then  also  James,  called  the 
brother  of  our  Lord,  because  he  is  also  called  the  son  of  Joseph. 

48 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  49 

For  Joseph  was  esteemed  the  father  of  Christ,  because  the  Virgin 
being  betrothed  to  him,  "she  was  found  with  child  by  the  Holy- 
Ghost  before  they  came  together,"  as  the  narrative  of  the  holy 
gospels  shews.  This  James,  therefore,  whom  the  ancients,  on  ac- 
count of  the  excellence  of  his  virtue,  surnamed  the  Just,  was  the 
first  that  received  the  episcopate  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  But 
Clement,  in  the  sixth  book  of  his  Institutions,  represents  it  thus : 
•'  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  after  the  ascension  of  our  Saviour, 
though  they  had  been  preferred  by  our  Lord,  did  not  contend  for 
the  honour,  but  chose  James  the  Just  as  bishop  of  Jerusalem." 
And  the  same  author,  in  the  seventh  book  of  the  same  work, 
writes  also  thus :  "  The  Lord  imparted  the  gift  of  knowledge  to 
James  the  Just,  to  John  and  Peter  after  his  resurrection,  these  de- 
livered it  to  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  and  they  to  the  seventy,  of 
whom  Barnabas  was  one.  There  were,  however,  two  Jameses ; 
one  called  the  Just,  v^'ho  was  thrown  from  a  wing  of  the  temple, 
and  beaten  to  death  with  a  fuller's  club,  and  another,  who  was 
beheaded.  Paul  also  makes  mention  of  the  Just  in  his  epistles. 
"  But  other  of  the  apostles,"  says  he,  "  saw  I  none,  save  James  the 
brother  of  our  Lord."  About  this  time  also,  the  circumstances  of 
our  Saviour's  promise,  in  reference  to  the  king  of  the  Osrhoenians, 
took  place.  For  Thomas,  under  a  divine  impulse,  sent  Thaddeus 
as  herald  and  evangelist,  to  proclaim  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  as  we 
have  shown  from  the  pubUc  documents  found  there. 

When  he  came  to  these  places,  he  both  healed  Agbarus  by  the 
word  of  Christ,  and  astonished  all  there  with  the  extraordinary 
miracles  he  performed.  After  having  sufficiently  disposed  them 
by  his  works,  and  led  them  to  adore  the  power  of  Christ,  he  made 
them  disciples  of  the  Saviour's  doctrine.  And  even  to  this  day,  the 
whole  city  of  Edessa  is  devoted  to  the  name  of  Christ ;  exhibiting 
no  common  evidence  of  the  beneficence  of  our  Saviour  likewise 
to  them.  And  let  this  suffice,  as  taken  from  the  accounts  given 
in  ancient  documents.  But  let  us  pass  again  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. As  the  first  and  greatest  persecution  arose  among  the  Jews 
after  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  against  the  church  of  Jerusalem, 
and  ail  the  disciples  except  the  twelve  were  scattered  throughout 
Judea  and  Samaria ;  some,  as  the  Holy  Scriptures  say,  coming  as 
G 


50  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

far  as  Phcenice,  and  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  they  were  not  yet  in  a 
situation  to  venture  to  impart  the  faith  to  the  nations,  and  there- 
fore only  announced  it  to  the  Jews.  During  this  time,  Paul  also 
was  yet  laying  waste  the  church,  entering  the  houses  of  the  be- 
lievers, dragging  away  men  and  women,  and  deUvering  them  over 
to  prison.  Philip,  also,  one  of  those  who  had  been  ordained  to  the 
office  of  deacons,  being  among  those  scattered  abroad,  went  down 
to  Samaria.  Filled  with  divine  power,  he  first  proclaimed  the 
divine  word  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  place.  But  so  greatly  did 
the  divine  grace  co-operate  with  him,  that  even  Simon  Magus, 
with  a  great  number  of  other  men,  w^ere  attracted  by  his  dis- 
courses. But  Simon  had  become  so  celebrated  at  that  time,  and 
had  such  influence  with  those  that  were  deceived  by  his  impos- 
tures, that  they  considered  him  the  great  power  of  God.  This 
same  Simon,  also,  astonished  at  the  extraordinary  miracles  per- 
formed by  Philip  through  the  power  of  God,  artfully  assumed,  and 
even  pretended  faith  in  Christ,  so  far  as  to  be  baptized ;  and  what 
is  surprising,  the  same  thing  is  done  even  to  this  day,  by  those 
who  adopt  his  most  foul  heresy.  These,  after  the  manner  of  their 
founder,  insinuating  themselves  into  the  church,  like  a  pestilential 
and  leprous  disease,  infected  those  with  the  greatest  corruption, 
into  whom  they  were  able  to  infuse  their  secret,  irremediable,  and 
destructive  poison.  Many  of  these,  indeed,  have  already  been 
expelled,  when  they  were  caught  in  their  wickedness ;  as  Simon 
himself,  when  detected  by  Peter,  suffered  his  deserved  punish- 
ment. For  as  the  annunciation  of  the  Saviour's  gospel  was  daily 
advancing,  by  a  certain  divine  providence,  a  prince  of  the  queen 
of  the  Ethiopians,  as  it  is  a  custom  that  still  prevails  there  to  be 
governed  by  a  female,  was  brought  thither,  and  was  the  first  of 
the  Gentiles  that  received  of  the  mysteries  of  the  divine  word 
from  Philip.  The  apostle,  led  by  a  vision,  thus  instructed  him ; 
and  he,  becoming  the  first  fruits  of  believers  throughout  the  world, 
is  said  to  ha\e  been  the  first,  on  returning  to  his  country,  that 
proclaimed  the  knowledge  of  God  and  the  salutary  abode  of  our 
Saviour  among  men.  So  that,  in  fact,  the  prophecy  obtained  its 
fulfilment  through  him :  "  Ethiopia  stretcheth  forth  her  hands  unto 
God."    After  this,  Paul,  that  chosen  vessel,  not  of  men,  nor  through 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  51 

men,  but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  God  the 
Father,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead,  is  appointed  an  apostle, 
being  honoured  with  the  call  by  a  vision  and  voice  of  revelation 
from  heaven. 


CHAPTER  11. 


How  Tiberius  was  affected,  when  informed  by  Pilate  respecting 
Christ. 

The  fame  of  our  Lord's  remarkable  resurrection  and  ascension 
being  now  spread  abroad,  according  to  an  ancient  custom  preva- 
lent among  the  rulers  of  the  nations,  to  communicate  novel  occur- 
rences to  the  emperor,  that  nothing  might  escape  him,  Pontius 
Pilate  transmits  to  Tiberius  an  account  of  the  circumstances  con- 
cerning the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  the  report  of 
which  had  already  been  spread  throughout  all  Palestine.  In  this 
account,  he  also  intimated  that  he  ascertained  other  miracles  re- 
specting him,  and  that  having  now  risen  from  the  dead,  he  was  be- 
lieved to  be  a  God  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  Tiberius  re- 
ferred the  matter  to  the  senate,  but  it  is  said  they  rejected  the 
proposition,  in  appearance,  because  they  had  not  examined  into  this 
subject  first,  according  to  an  ancient  law  among  the  Romans,  that 
no  one  should  be  ranked  among  the  gods  unless  by  a  vote  and  de- 
cree of  the  senate ;  in  reality,  however,  because  the  salutary  doc- 
trine of  the  gospel  needs  no  confirmation  and  co-operation  of  men. 

The  senate  of  the  Romans,  therefore,  having  thus  rejected  the 
doctrine  of  our  Saviour  as  it  was  announced,  and  Tiberius  still 
continuing  to  hold  the  opinion  he  had  before  cherished,  formed  no 
imreasonable  projects  against  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  This  is  the 
testimony  of  Tertullian,  a  man  who  made  himself  accurately  ac- 
quainted with  the  laws  of  the  Romans,  and,  besides  his  emi- 
nence in  other  respects,  was  particularly  distinguished  among  the 
eminent  men  of  Rome,  and  in  his  Apology  for  the  Christians  in 
the  Roman  tongue,  which  is  also  translated  into  the  Greek,  to  give 
his  own  words,  writes  after  the  following  manner .  "  In  order  to 
7# 


52  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

give  also  an  account  of  these  laws  from  their  origin,  it  was  an  an- 
cient decree,  that  no  one  should  be  consecrated  a  god  by  the  em- 
peror, before  it  had  been  approved  by  the  senate.  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  has  done  this,  in  reference  to  a  certain  idol,  Alburnus,  so  that 
this  evidence  has  been  given  in  favour  of  our  doctrine,  that  divine 
dignity  is  conferred  among  you  by  the  decrees  of  men.  Unless  a 
god  pleases  men  he  is  not  made  a  god ;  and  thus,  according  to  this 
procedure,  it  is  necessary  that  man  should  be  propitious  to  the 
god.  Tiberius,  therefore,  under  whom  the  name  of  Christ  was 
spread  throughout  the  world,  when  this  doctrine  was  announced 
to  him  from  Palestine,  where  it  first  began,  communicated  with 
the  senate,  being  obviously  pleased  with  the  doctrine ;  but  the 
senate,  as  they  had  not  proposed  the  measure,  rejected  it.  But 
he  continued  in  his  opinion,  threatening  death  to  the  accusers  of 
the  Oiristians ;  a  divine  providence  infusing  this  into  his  mind,  that 
the  gospel  having  freer  scope  in  its  commencement,  might  spread 
every  where  over  the  world." 


CHAPTER  III. 

How  the  Christian  doctrine  soon  spread  throughout  the  whole  icorld. 

Thus,  then,  under  a  celestial  influence  and  co-operation,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Saviour,  like  the  rays  of  the  sun,  quickly  irra- 
diated the  whole  world.  Presently,  in  accordance  with  divine 
prophecy,  the  sound  of  his  inspired  evangelists  and  apostles  had 
gone  throughout  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  ends  of  the 
world.  Throughout  every  city  and  village,  like  a  replenished 
barn  floor,  churches  were  rapidly  found  abounding,  and  filled 
with  members  from  every  people.  Those  who,  in  consequence  of 
the  delusions  that  had  descended  to  them  from  their  ancestors, 
had  been  fettered  by  the  ancient  disease  of  idolatrous  supersti- 
tion, were  now  liberated,  by  the  power  of  Christ,  through  the 
teaching  and  miracles  of  his  messengers.  And,  as  if  delivered  from 
dreadful  masters,  and  emancipated  from  the  most  cruel  bondage, 
on  the  one  hand  renounced  the  whole  multitude  of  gods  and  de- 


#■ 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  53 

mons,  and  on  the  other,  confessed  that  there  was  only  one  true 
God,  the  Creator  of  all  things.  This  same  God  they  now  also 
honoured  with  the  rites  of  a  true  piety,  under  the  influence 
of  that  inspired  and  reasonable  worship  which  had  been  planted 
among  men  by  our  Saviour.  But  the  gratuitous  benevolence 
of  God,  being  now  poured  out  also  upon  the  rest  of  the  nations, 
Cornelius  was  the  first  of  Cesarea  in  Palestine,  who,  with  his 
whole  house,  received  the  faith  in  Christ,  through  a  divine  vision 
and  the  agency  of  Peter ;  as  did  also  a  great  number  of  Greeks 
at  Antioch,  to  whom  the  gospel  had  been  preached  by  those  who 
were  scattered  by  the  persecution  of  Stephen. 

The  church  at  Antioch,  also,  now  flourishing  and  abounding  in 
members,  and  the  greatest  number  of  teachers  coming  hither 
from  Jerusalem,  with  whom  were  Barnabas  and  Paul,  and  many 
other  brethren  with  them,  the  epithet  of  Christians  first  sprung 
up  at  that  place,  as  from  a  grateful  and  productive  soil.  Agabus, 
also,  one  of  the  assembled  prophets,  uttered  a  prediction  respect- 
ing the  impending  famine,  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  delegated 
to  proceed  to  the  reUef  of  the  necessities  of  the  brethren. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Caius  (Caligula)  after  the  death  of  Tiberius,  appoints  Agrippa 
king  of  the  Jews,  after  punishing  Herod  icith  perpetual  exile. 

Tiberius  died  after  having  reigned  about  twenty-two  years, 
and  Caius,  receiving  the  empire  next,  immediately  conferred  the 
Jewish  government  on  Agrippa,  appointing  him  king  over  the 
tetrarchy  both  of  Philip  and  Lysanias.  To  these,  not  long  after, 
he  adds  also  the  tetrarchy  of  Herod,  after  having  inflicted  the 
punishment  of  perpetual  exile  upon  Herod,  together  with  his 
wife  Herodias,  for  their  numerous  crimes.  This  was  the  Herod 
who  was  concerned  in  the  passion  of  our  Saviour.  Josephus 
bears  testimony  to  these  facts.  During  the  reign  of  this  emperor, 
Philo  became  noted,  a  man  most  distinguished  for  his  learning, 
not  only  among  very  manv  of  our  own,  but  of  those  that  came 


64  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

from  abroad.  As  to  his  origin,  he  was  a  descendant  of  the  Ho; 
brews,  inferior  to  none  at  Alexandria  in  point  of  dignity  of  family 
and  birth.  As  to  the  divine  Scriptures,  and  the  institutions  of  his 
country,  how  greatly  and  extensively  he  laboured,  his  work 
speaks  for  itself.  And  how  well  skilled  in  philosophy  and  the 
liberal  studies  of  foreign  countries,  there  is  no  necessity  to  say, 
since,  as  he  was  a  zealous  follower  of  the  sect  of  Plato  and  Py- 
thagoras, he  is  said  to  have  surpassed  all  of  his  contemporaries. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PJiilo  was  sent  on  an  embassy  to  Caius,  in  behalf  of  the  Jews. 

This  author  has  given  us  an  account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews 
in  the  reign  of  Caius,  in  five  books.  He  there  also  relates  the 
madness  of  Caius,  who  called  himself  a  god,  and  was  guilty  of 
innumerable  oppressions  in  the  exercise  of  his  power.  He  men- 
tions the  miseries  of  the  Jews  under  him,  and  the  embassy  which 
he  himself  performed  when  sent  to  the  city  of  Rome,  in  behalf 
of  his  countrymen  at  Alexandria ;  how  that  when  he  pleaded  be- 
fore Caius,  for  the  laws  and  institutions  of  his  ancestors,  he  re- 
ceived nothing  but  laughter  and  derision  in  return,  and  had  well 
nigh  incurred  the  risk  of  his  life.  Josephus  also  mentions  these 
things  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  in  these  words : 

"  A  sedition  having  also  arisen  between  the  Jews  dwelling  at 
Alexandria  and  the  Greeks,  three  chosen  deputies  are  sent  from 
each  of  the  factions,  and  these  appeared  before  Caius,  One  of 
the  Alexandrian  deputies  was  Apion,  who  uttered  many  slanders 
against  the  Jews ;  among  other  things,  saying,  that  they  treated 
the  honours  of  Cesar  with  contempt,  that  whilst  all  others,  as 
many  as  were  subject  to  the  Roman  empire,  erected  altars  and 
temples  to  Caias,  and  in  other  respects  regarded  him  as  a  god, 
they  alone  considered  it  disgraceful  to  raise  statues  to  his  honour, 
and  to  swear  by  his  name.  Apion  having  thus  uttered  many  and 
severe  charges  by  which  he  hoped  that  Caius  would  be  roused,  as 
was  very  probable,  Philo,  the  chief  of  the  Jewish  embassy,  a  man 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  55 

illustrious  in  every  respect,  being  the  brother  of  Alexander,  the 
Alabarch,*  and  not  unskilled  in  philosophy,  was  well  prepared  to 
enter  upon  a  defence  against  these  charges.  But  he  was  pre- 
cluded from  this  by  Caius,  who  ordered  him  straightway  to  be 
gone,  and  as  he  was  very  much  incensed^  it  was  very  evident  that 
he  was  meditating  some  great  evil  against  them.  Philo  departed, 
covered  with  insult,  and  told  the  Jews  that  were  with  him,  they  had 
good  reason  to  console  themselves,  that  although  Caius  was  enraged 
at  them,  he  was  already  in  fact  challenging  God  against  himself." 
Thus  far  Josephus.  And  Philo  himself,  in  the  embassy  which  he 
describes,  details  the  particulars  of  what  was  then  done  to  him, 
with  great  accuracy.  Passing  by  the  greatest  part  of  these,  I 
shall  only  state  those  by  which  it  will  be  made  manifest  to  the 
reader,  that  these  things  happened  to  the  Jews  forthwith  and 
at  no  distant  period,  on  account  of  those  things  which  they  dared 
to  perpetrate  against  Christ.  First,  then,  he  relates,  that  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius,  at  Rome,  Sejanus,  who  was  then  in  great  favour 
with  Tiberius,  had  made  every  effort  to  destroy  the  whole  nation 
of  the  Jews  from  the  foundation,  and  that  in  Judea  Pontius  Pilate, 
under  whom  the  crimes  were  committed  against  our  Saviour, 
having  attempted  something  contrary  to  what  was  lawful  among 
the  Jews  respecting  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  which  was  then 
yet  standing,  excited  them  to  the  greatest  tumults. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


What  evils  overwhelmed  the  Jens,  after  their  .presumption  against 
Christ. 

Atter  the  death  of  Tiberius,  Caius  having  received  the  go- 
vernment, besides  many  other  innumerable  acts  of  tyranny  against 
many,  did  not  a  little  afflict  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  particu- 
larly.    We  may  soon  learn  this,  from  the  declaration  of  the  same 

•  Alabarch.']  The  Alabarch  was  the  chief  magistrate  among  the  Jews  at 
Alexandria. 


56  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

author,  in  which  he  writes  as  follows :  "  So  great  was  the  caprice 
c[  Caius  in  his  conduct  towards  all,  but  especially  towards  the  na- 
tion of  the  Jews.  As  he  was  excessively  hostile  to  these,  he  appro- 
priated their  places  of  worship  to  himself  in  all  the  cities,  begin- 
ning with  those  at  Alexandria,  filling  them  with  his  images  and 
statues.  For  having  permitted  it  when  others  erected  them  of 
their  own  accord,  he  now  began  to  erect  them  by  absolute  com- 
mand. But  the  temple  in  the  holy  city,  which  had  been  left  un- 
touched as  yet,  and  been  endowed  with  privileges  as  an  inviolable 
asylum,  he  changed  and  transformed  into  a  temple  of  his  own, 
that  it  should  be  publicly  called  the  temple  of  Caius  the  younger, 
the  visible  Jupiter.  {(:.7tL(pavovg  Atog-)  Many  other  and  almost  in- 
describable calamities,  the  same  author  relates,  as  happening  to  the 
Jews  of  Alexandria,  during  the  reign  of  the  aforesaid  emperor,  in 
his  second  book,  to  which  he  gave  the  title, '  O71  the  Virtues.'  Jo- 
sephus  also  agrees  with  him,  who  likewise  intimates  that  the  ca- 
lamities of  the  whole  nation  took  their  rise  from  the  times  of  Pi- 
late, and  the  crimes  against  our  Saviour.  Let  us  hear  then,  whu  t 
he  also  says  in  the  second  book  of  the  Jewish  War.  "  Pilate 
being  sent  by  Tiberias  as  procurator  of  Judea,  at  night  carried 
the  covered  images  of  Caesar  into  the  temple ;  these  are  called 
statues.  The  following  day,  this  excited  the  greatest  disturbance 
among  the  Jews.  For  they  that  were  near,  were  confounded  at 
the  sight,  as  a  contemptuous  prostitution  of  their  legal  institutions; 
for  they  do  not  allow  any  image  to  be  set  up  in  their  city."  Com- 
paring these  accounts  with  the  v/ritings  of  the  evangelists,  you 
will  perceive,  that  it  was  not  long  before  that  exclamation  came 
upon  them,  which  they  uttered  under  the  same  Pilate,  and  by 
which  they  cried  again  and  again  that  they  had  no  other  king 
but  Caesar.  After  this,  the  same  historian  records,  that  forthwith 
another  calamity  overtook  them,  in  these  words :  "  But  after  these 
things,  he  (i.  c.  Pilate,)  excited  another  tumult,  by  expending  the 
public  treasure  which  is  called  Corban,  in  the  construction  of  an 
aqueduct.  This  extended  nearly  three  hundred  stadia,  (furlongs, 
i.  e.  fj-om  the  city.)  The  multitude  were  sorely  grieved  at  it ;  and 
wlicn  Pilate  came  to  Jerusalem,  surrounding  the  tribunal,  they 
began   to  cry  out  against  him.      But  having  anticipated  theii' 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  57 

tumult,  he  planted  his  armed  soldiers  against  the  multitude,  and 
previously  intermixed  them,  concealed  under  the  same  com- 
mon dress  with  the  people.  He  had  also  forbidden  them  to  use 
their  swords,  but  ordered  them  to  strike  the  noisy  with  clubs. 
The  signal  he  gave  from  the  tribunal.  The  Jews  being  thus 
beaten,  many  of  them  perished  in  consequence  of  the  blows,  many 
also  being  trodden  to  death  by  their  own  countrymen  in  the  flight. 
The  multitude  thus  overawed  by  the  misfortune  of  those  slam, 
held  their  peace."  The  same  writer  mentions  innumerable  other 
commotions  that  were  raised  beside  these,  in  Jerusalem  itself; 
showing  that  from  that  time  tumults,  and  wars,  and  plots  of  mis- 
chief, one  after  another,  never  ceased  in  the  city  and  all  Judea, 
until,  last  of  all,  the  siege  of  Vespasian  overwhelmed  them.  Thus, 
then,  the  divine  justice  overtook  the  Jews  in  this  way,  for  their 
crimes  against  Christ. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

How  Pilate  destroyed  himself. 

It  is  proper  also,  to  observe,  how  it  is  asserted  that  this  same 
Pilate,  who  was  governor  at  our  Saviour's  crucifixion,  in  the  reign 
of  Caius,  whose  times  we  are  recording,  fell  into  such  calamities 
that  he  was  forced  to  become  his  own  murderer,  and  the  avenger 
of  his  own  wickedness.  Divine  justice,  it  seems,  did  not  long  pro- 
tract his  punishment.  This  is  stated  by  those  Greek  historians, 
who  have  recorded  the  Olympiads  in  order,  together  with  the 
transactions  of  the  times. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  famine  that  happened  in  the  reign  of  Claudius. 

Caius,  however,  had  not  reigned  four  years,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Qaudius,  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  empire.   In  his  reign 
H 


58  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

there  was  a  famine  that  prevailed  over  the  whole  world;  an 
event,  indeed,  which  has  been  handed  down  by  historians  very 
far  from  our  doctrine ;  and  by  which  the  prediction  of  the  pro- 
phet Agabus,  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  respecting  the 
impending  famine  over  the  whole  world,  received  its  fulfilment. 
Luke,  however,  in  the  Acts,  after  stating  the  famine  in  the  time 
of  Claudius,  and  after  recording  how  by  means  of  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas, the  brethren  at  Antioch  had  sent  to  those  of  Judea,  accord- 
ing to  the  ability  of  each  one,  also  adds  the  following. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Tile  martyrdom  of  the  Apostle  James. 

"  About  tliis  time,  (it  is  manifest  he  means  the  reign  of  Clau- 
dius,) Herod  the  king  prepared  to  afflict  some  of  the  church.  But 
he  slew  James,  the  brother  of  John  with  the  sword."  Of  this 
James,  Clement  adds  a  narrative  worthy  of  note,  in  tlie  seventh 
book  of  his  Institutions,  evidently  recording  it  according  to  the 
tradition  which  he  had  received  from  his  ancestors.  He  says,  that 
the  man  who  led  him  to  the  judgment  seat,  seeing  him  bcariiig 
his  testimony  to  the  faith,  and  moved  by  the  fact,  confessed  him- 
self a  Christian.  Both  therefore,  says  he,  were  led  away  to  die. 
On  their  way,  lie  entreated  James  to  be  forgiven  of  Inm,  and 
James  considering  a  Httle,  replied,  "  Peace  be  to  thee,"  and  kissed 
nim ;  and  then  both  were  beheaded  at  the  same  time.  Then  also, 
as  the  Scriptures  say,  Herod,  at  the  death  of  James,  seeing  that 
the  deed  gave  pleasure  to  the  Jews,  also  attacks  Peter,  and  hav- 
ing committed  him  to  prison,  had  well  nigh  executed  the  same 
murderous  intention  against  him,  had  he  not  been  wonderfully 
delivered  from  his  prison  by  an  angel  appearing  to  him  at  night, 
and  thus  liberated  to  proclaim  the  gospel.  Such  was  the  provi- 
dence of  God  in  behalf  of  Peter. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Herod  Agrippa  persecuting  t/ie  Apostles,  immediately  experienced 
the  divine  judgment. 

The  consequences,  however,  of  the  king's  attempts  against  ihe. 
apostle-s,  were  not  long  deferred,  but  the  avenging  minister  of 
divine  justice  soon  overtook  him  after  his  plots  against  the  apos- 
tles. As  it  is  also  recorded  in  the  book  of  Acts,  he  proceeded  to 
Cesarea,  and  there  on  a  noted  festival,  being  clad  in  a  splendid 
and  royal  dress,  he  harangued  the  people  from  an  elevation  be- 
fore the  tribunal.  The  whole  people  applauding  him  for  his 
harangue,  as  if  it  w-ere  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  man,  the 
Scriptures  relate,  "  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  immediately  smote 
him,  and  being  consumed  by  worms,  he  gave  up  the  ghost."  It 
is  wonderful  to  observe,  likewise,  in  this  singular  event,  the  coin- 
cidence of  the  history  given  by  Josephus,  with  that  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  In  this  he  plainly  adds  his  testimony  to  the  truth,  in 
the  nineteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  where  he  relates  the  mira- 
cles in  the  following  words :  "  But  he  (i.  e.  Kerod)  had  completed 
the  third  year  of  his  reign  over  all  Judea,  and  he  came  to  the 
city  of  Cesarea,  which  was  formerly  called  the  tower  of  Strato. 
There  he  exhibited  pviblic  shows  in  honour  of  Cesar,  knowing  it  to 
be  a  kind  of  festival  for  his  safety.  At  this  festival  was  collected 
a  great  number  of  those  who  were  the  first  in  power  and  dignit}'- 
throughout  the  province.  On  the  second  day  of  the  shows,  being  clad 
in  a  robe  all  WTOught  with  silver,  of  a  w'onderful  texture,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  theatre  at  the  break  of  day.  There,  the  silver  irra- 
diated with  the  reflection  of  the  earliest  sunbeams,  wonderfully  glit- 
tered, reflecting  a  terrific  and  awful  brilliancy  upon  the  beholders. 
Presently  the  flatterers  raised  their  shouts  in  different  ways ;  such, 
however,  as  were  not  for  his  good,  calling  him  a  god,  and  implor- 
ing his  clemency  in  such  language  as  this :  "  We  have  feared  thee 
thus  far  as  a  man,  but  henceforth  we  confess  thee  to  be  superior 
to  the  nature  of  mortals."  The  king  did  not  either  chide  them, 
or  disclaim  the  impious  flattery.     After  a  little  wliile,  raising  liim- 


60  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

self,  he  saw  an  angel  sitting  above  his  head.  This  he  immediately 
perceived  was  the  cause  of  evils,  as  it  had  once  been  the  cause  of 
his  successes.  And  he  felt  a  pain  through  his  heart,  and  a  sud- 
den pang  seize  his  bowels,  which  began  to  torment  him  with  great 
violence.  Turning,  then,  to  his  friends,  he  said,  "  I,  your  god,  am 
now  commanded  to  depart  this  life,  and  fate  will  soon  disprove 
your  false  assertions  respecting  me.  He  whom  you  have  called 
an  immortal,  is  now  compelled  to  die,  but  we  must  receive  our 
destiny  as  it  is  determined  by  God.  Neither  have  we  passed  our 
life  ingloriously,  but  in  that  splendour  which  is  so  much  extolled." 
Saying  this,  he  laboured  much  with  the  increase  of  pain.  He 
was  then  carried  with  great  haste  into  the  palace,  while  the 
report  spread  throughout  the  people,  that  the  king  at  all  events 
would  soon  die.  But  the  multitude  with  their  wives  and  chil 
dren,  after  their  country's  custom,  sitting  in  sackcloth,  implored 
God  in  behalf  of  the  king;  all  places  were  filled  with  lamen- 
tation and  weeping.  But  the  king,  as  he  lay  reclining  in  an 
elevated  chamber,  and  looking  down  upon  them  falling  pros- 
trate to  the  ground,  could  not  refrain  from  tears  himself.  At 
length,  overpowered  by  the  pain  of  his  bowels,  for  four  days  in 
succession,  he  ended  his  life,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age 
and  seventh  of  his  reign.  He  reigned,  therefore,  four  years 
under  Caius  Cesar,  had  the  tetrarchy  of  Philip  three  years,  and 
received  that  of  Herod  in  the  fourth  year,  reigning  subsequently 
three  years  under  Claudius  Cesar."  Thus  far  Josephus :  in  which 
statement,  as  in  others,  so  in  this,  I  cannot  but  admire  his  agree- 
ment with  the  divine  Scriptures.  But  if  he  should  appear  to  any 
to  differ,  in  regard  to  the  epithet  of  the  king :  yet  the  time  and 
the  fact  show  that  it  was  the  same  individual,  whether  it  happen- 
ed by  an  error  in  writing  that  the  name  was  changed,  or  in  con- 
sequence of  a  double  name  applied  to  him ;  such  as  was  the  case 
with  many. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  61 

CHAPTER  XL 

Concerning  the  impostor  Theudas  and  his  followers. 

As  Luke  in  the  Acts,  also  introduces  Gamaliel  in  the  consulta- 
tion respecting  the  apostles,  saying,  that  at  this  time  "  arose 
Theudas,  who  gave  out  that  he  was  some  one,  but  who  was  de- 
stroyed, and  all  that  obeyed  him  were  dispersed,"  let  us  now, 
also,  add  the  written  testimony  of  Josephus  respecting  the  same 
circumstance.  He  relates,  in  the  book  already  quoted,  the  fol- 
lowing particulars.  "  While  Fadus  vcas  procurator  of  Judea,  a 
certain  impostor  called  Theudas  persuaded  the  multitude  to  take 
their  possessions  with  them  and  follow  him  to  the  river  Jordan. 
For  he  said  he  was  a  prophet,  and  that  the  Jordan  should  be  di- 
vided at  his  command,  and  afford  them  an  easy  passage  through 
it.  And  with  such  promises  he  deceived  many.  But  Fadus  did 
not  suffer  them  to  enjoy  their  folly,  but  sent  a  troop  of  horsemen 
against  them,  who,  falling  upon  them  unexpectedly,  slew  many 
and  took  many  alive  ;  but  having  taken  Theudas  himself  captive, 
they  cut  off  his  head  and  carried  it  to  Jerusalem."  Besides  this,  he 
also  mentions  the  famine  that  took  place  under  Claudius,  as  fol- 
lows. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Helen,  queen  of  the  Osrhoenians. 

About  this  time  it  happened  that  the  great  famine  took  place 
in  Judea,  in  which  also  queen  Helen  having  purchased  grain  from 
Egypt,  with  large  sums,  distributed  to  the  needy.  You  will  also 
find  this  statement  in  accordance  with  that  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  where  it  is  said,  that  according  to  the  ability  of  the  dis- 
ciples at  Antioch,  they  determined,  each  one,  to  send  to  the  as- 
sistance of  those  in  Judea.  Which  also  they  did,  sending  to  the 
elders  by  the  hands  of  Barnabas  and  Paul.     Of  this  same  Helen, 


62  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

mentioned  by  the  historian,  splendid  monuments  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  (Jerusalem)  now  called  ^Elia. 
But  she  is  said  to  have  been  queen  of  the  Adiabeni. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Simon  Mamis. 


The  faith  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  having  now 
been  diffused  abroad  among  all  men,  tlie  enemy  of  salvation  de- 
vising some  scheme  of  seizing  upon  the  imperial  city  for  himself, 
brought  thither  Simon,  whom  we  mentioned  before.  Coming  to 
the  aid  of  his  insidious  artifices,  he  attached  many  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  Rome  to  himself,  in  order  to  deceive  them.  This  is  at- 
tested by  Justin,  who  was  one  of  our  distinguished  writers,  not  long 
after  the  times  of  the  apostles,  concerning  whom  I  shall  say  what 
is  necessary  in  the  proper  place.  The  reader  may  see  for  him- 
self, in  the  first  defence  of  our  religion,  addressed  to  Antonine, 
where  he  writes  thus:  "And  after  the  ascension  of  our  Lord  into 
heaven,  certain  men  were  suborned  by  demons  as  their  agents, 
who  said  that  they  were  gods.  These  were  not  only  suffered  to 
pass  without  persecution,  but  were  even  deemed  worthy  of  ho- 
nours by  you.  Simon,  a  certain  Samaritan  of  the  village  called 
Githon,  was  one  of  the  number,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius  Ce- 
sar, performed  many  magic  rites  by  the  operation  of  demons,  was 
considered  a  god,  in  your  imperial  city  of  Rome,  and  was  honoured 
by  you  with  a  statue  as  a  god,  in  the  river  Tiber,  (on  an  island,) 
between  the  two  bridges,  having  the  superscription  in  Latin,  Si- 
moni  Deo  Sancto,  which  is,  To  Simon  the  Holy  God ;  and  nearly 
all  the  Samaritans,  a  few  also  of  other  nations,  worship  him,  con- 
fessing him  as  the  Supreme  God.  A  certain  Helen  also,  is  of  this 
class,  who  had  before  been  a  public  prostitute  in  Tyre  of  Pheni- 
cia,  and  at  that  time  attached  herself  to  Simon,  and  was  called 
the  first  idea  that  proceeded  from  him."  Such  is  the  testimony 
of  Justin,  with  which  also  Irenasus  coincides  in  his  first  book 
against  Heresies,  where  he  also  subjoins  an  account  of  the  impiety 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  6S 

and  corrupt  doctrine  of  the  man,  which  it  would  be  superfluous 
for  us  to  detail,  as  it  is  in  the  power  of  those  who  wish  to  learn 
the  origin,  and  the  lives,  and  the  false  doctrines,  not  only  of  this 
one,  but  likewise  of  all  the  heresiarchs  respectively,  as  also  of  the 
institutions  and  principles  of  all  of  them,  treated  at  large  in  the 
abovementioncd  book  of  Irenasus.  Simon,  however,  we  have  under- 
stood to  have  taken  the  lead  in  all  heresy ;  from  whom  also,  down 
to  the  present  time,  those  that  followed  his  heresy,  still  affected 
the  modest  philosophy  of  the  Christians,  so  celebrated  for  purity 
of  life  among  all.  From  this,  however,  they  appeared  again  to 
depart,  and  again  to  embrace  the  superstitions  of  idols,  falling 
down  before  the  pictures  and  statues  of  this  selfsame  Simon,  and 
the  aforesaid  Helen  with  him ;  venturing  to  offer  them  worship  by 
incense,  and  sacrifices,  and  libations.  Those  matters  which  are 
kept  more  secret  by  them  than  these,  at  the  first  mention  of  which 
they  say  one  would  be  astonished,  and  to  use  an  oracular  phrase 
with  them,  would  be  confounded,  they  happen  in  truth  to  be  so 
full  of  amazement,  and  folly,  and  madness,  such  as  they  are,  that 
it  is  not  only  impossible  to  commit  them  to  Avriting,  but  even  to 
utter  them  with  the  lips  to  modest  men,  on  account  of  their  ex- 
cessive baseness  and  obscenity.  For  every  vile  corruption  that 
could  either  be  done  or  devised,  is  practised  by  this  most  abomi- 
nable heresy,  of  a  sect  that  ensnare  those  wretched  females  who 
are  literally  overwhelmed  with  every  kind  of  vice. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

77ie  preaching  of  Peter  in  the  city  of  Rome. 

Such  was  the  wickedness  of  which  that  malignant  power,  the 
enemy  of  all  good,  and  the  waylayer  of  human  salvation,  consti- 
tuted Simon  the  father  and  author  at  this  time,  as  if  with  a  view 
to  make  him  a  great  and  powerful  antagonist  to  the  divine  pur- 
poses of  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles.  Nevertheless,  that  divine 
and  celestial  grace  which  co-operates  with  its  servants,  by  their 
appearance  and  presence,  soon  extinguished  the  flame  that  had 
8* 


64  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

been  kindled  by  the  wicked  one,  humbling  and  casting  down 
through  them,  "every  height  that  elevated  itself  against  the 
knowledge  of  God."  \^'Tierefore,  neither  the  conspiracy  of  Simon, 
nor  that  of  any  other  one  then  existing,  was  able  to  effect  anything 
against  those  apostolic  times.  For  the  declaration  of  the  truth 
prevailed  and  overpowered  all,  and  the  divine  word  itself,  now 
shining  from  heaven  upon  men,  and  flourishing  upon  earth,  and 
dwelling  with  his  apostles,  prevailed  and  overpowered  every  op- 
position. Immediately  the  aforesaid  impostor  being  smitten  as  to 
his  mental  eye,  by  a  divine  and  supernatural  brilliancy,  as  when, 
on  a  former  occasion  in  Judea,  he  was  convicted  of  his  wicked- 
ness by  the  apostle  Peter,  he  undertook  a  great  journey  from  the 
east  across  the  sea,  and  fled  to  the  west,  thinking  that  this  was 
the  only  way  for  him  to  live  according  to  his  mind.  Entering  the 
city  of  Rome,  by  the  co-operation  of  that  malignant  spirit  which 
had  fixed  its  seat  there,  his  attempts  were  soon  so  far  successful, 
as  to  be  honoured  as  a  god,  with  the  erection  of  a  statue  by  the 
inhabitants  of  that  city.  This,  however,  did  not  continue  long  ; 
for  immediately  under  the  reign  of  Claudius,  by  the  benign  and 
gracious  providence  of  God,  Peter,  that  powerful  and  great  apos- 
tle, who  by  his  courage  took  the  lead  of  all  the  rest,  was  conducted 
to  Rome  against  this  pest  of  mankind.  He,  like  a  noble  com- 
mander of  God,  fortified  with  divine  armour,  bore  the  precious 
merchandize  of  the  revealed  light  from  the  east  to  those  in  the 
west,  announcing  the  light  itself,  and  salutary  doctrine  of  the  soul 
the  proclamation  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


The  Gospel  according  to  Mark. 

The  divine  word  having  thus  been  established  among  the  Ro- 
mans, the  power  of  Simon  was  soon  extinguished  and  destroyed 
together  with  the  man.  So  greatly,  however,  did  the  splendour 
of  piety  enlighten  the  minds  of  Peter's  hearers,  that  it  was  not 
suflicient  to  hear  but  once,  nor  to  receive  the  unwritten  doctrine 


Jll;,  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  65 

of  the  gospel  of  God,  but  they  persevered  in  every  variety  of  en- 
treaties, to  soUcit  Mark  as  the  companion  of  Peter,  and  whose 
gospel  we  have,  that  he  should  leave  them  a  monument  of  the 
doctrine  thus  orally  communicated,  in  writing.  Nor  did  they  cease 
their  solicitations  until  they  had  prevailed  with  the  man,  and  thus 
become  the  means  of  that  history  which  is  called  the  Gospel  ao- 
cording  to  Mark.  They  say  also,  that  the  apostle  (Peter,)  having 
ascertained  what  was  done  by  the  revelation  of  the  spirit,  was 
deliglitcd  with  the  zealous  ardour  expressed  by  these  men,  and 
that  the  history  obtained  his  authority  for  the  purpose  of  being 
read  in  the  churches.  This  account  is  given  by  Clement,  in  the 
sixth  book  of  his  Institutions,  whose  testimony  is  corroborated  also 
by  that  of  Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis.  But  Peter  makes  men- 
tion of  Mark  in  the  first  epistle,  which  he  is  also  said  to  have  com- 
posed at  the  same  city  of  Rome,  and  that  he  shows  this  fact,  by 
calling  the  city  by  an  unusual  trope,  Babylon ;  thus,  "  The  church 
dt  Babylon,  elected  together  with  you,  saluteth  you,  as  also  my 
son  Marcus."  1  Pet.  v.  13. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Mark  first  proclaimed  Christianitij  to  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt. 

The  same  Mark,  they  also  say,  being  the  first  that  was  sent  to 
Egypt,  proclaimed  the  gospel  there  which  he  had  written,  and 
first  established  churches  at  the  city  of  Alexandria.  And  so  great 
a  multitude  of  beUevers,  both  of  men  and  women,  were  collected 
there  at  the  very  outset,  that  in  consequence  of  their  extreme 
philosophical  disciphne  and  austerity,  Philo  has  considered  their 
pursuits,  their  assemblies,  and  entertainments,  and  in  short  their 
M^hole  manner  of  life,  as  deserving  a  place  in  his  descriptions. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  account  given  by  Pkilo  respecting  the  Ascetics  of  Egypt. 

The  same  author,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  is  also  said  to  have 
had  familiar  conversation  with  Peter  at  Rome,  whilst  he  was  pro- 
claiming the  gospel  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  city.  Nor  is  this  at 
all  improbable ;  since  the  work  of  which  we  now  speak,  and  which 
was  subsequently  composed  by  him  at  a  late  period,  evidently 
comprehends  the  regulations  that  are  still  observed  in  our 
churches,  even  to  the  present  time ;  but  at  the  same  time  that  he 
describes  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  the  lives  of  our  ascetics,  he 
evidently  shows  that  he  not  only  knew,  but  approved,  whilst  he 
extolled  and  revered  the  apostolic  men  ot  his  day,  who  were  sprung 
probably  from  the  Hebrews ;  and  hence,  still  continuing  to  observe 
their  most  ancient  customs,  rather  after  the  Jewish  manner.  In 
the  book  that  he  wrote,  "  On  a  Contemplative  Life,  or  those  who 
lead  a  Life  of  Prayer,"  he  avers  indeed,  that  he  would  add  nothing 
contrary  to  the  truth,  or  of  his  own  invention,  in  the  history  that 
he  was  about  to  write,  where  he  says,  that  these  persons  are 
called  Therapeutae,  and  the  women  Therapeutrides. 

Subjoining  the  reasons  of  such  an  appellation,  he  refers  its 
origin  either  to  the  fact,  that  like  physicians,  by  removing  the 
evil  affections,  they  healed  and  cured  the  minds  of  those  that 
joined  them,  or  to  their  pure  and  sincere  mode  of  serving  and 
worshipping  the  Deity.  Whether  Philo  himself  attached  this 
name  to  them  of  his  own  accord,  giving  an  epithet  well  suited  to 
the  manners  of  the  people,  or  whether  the  founders  really  called 
themselves  so  from  the  beginning,  as  the  name  of  Christians  was 
not  yet  spread  to  every  place,  are  points  that  need  not  be  so  ac- 
curately determined.  He  bears  witness,  however,  that  they  re- 
nounced their  property,  saying,  that  "  as  soon  as  they  commenced 
a  philosophical  life,  they  divested  themselves  of  their  property, 
giving  it  up  to  their  relatives ;  then  laying  aside  all  the  cares  of 
life,  they  abandon  the  city  and  take  up  their  abode  in  solitary 
fields  and  gardens,  well  knowing  that  the  intercourse  with  per- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  67 

sons  of  a  different  character  is  ^not  only  unprofitable  but  inju- 
rious." There  were  at  this  time,  in  all  probability,  persons  who, 
under  the  influence  of  an  inspired  and  ardent  faith,  instituted  this 
mode  of  life  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  prophets.  Wherefore,  as 
it  is  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  a  book  well  authenti- 
cated, that  all  the  associates  of  the  apostles,  after  selling  their 
possessions  and  substance  distributed  to  all  according  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  each  one,  so  that  there  was  none  in  want  among  them. 
"  For  as  many  as  had  lands  and  houses,  as  this  account  says,  sell- 
ing them,  brought  the  value  of  the  property  sold,  and  laid  it  at 
the  apostles'  feet,  so  as  to  distribute  to  each  one  according  to 
his  necessity."  Philo  giving  his  testimony  to  facts  very  much  like 
these,  in  the  same  description  superadds  the  following  statement. 
"  This  kind  of  men  is  every  where  scattered  over  the  world,  for 
both  Greeks  and  barbarians  should  share  in  so  permanent  a  be- 
nefit. They  abound,  however,  in  Egypt,  in  each  of  its  districts, 
and  particularly  about  Alexandria. 

"But  the  .principal  men  among  them  from  every  quarter  emi- 
grate to  a  place  situated  on  a  m.oderate  elevation  of  land  beyond 
the  lake  Maria,  very  advantageously  located  both  for  safety  and 
temperature  of  the  air,  as  if  it  were  the  native  country  of  the 
Therapeutae."  After  thus  describing  what  kind  of  habitations 
they  have,  he  speaks  thus  of  the  churches  in  the  place.  "  In 
every  house  there  is  a  sacred  apartment  which  they  call  the 
Semnaeum,  or  Monasterium,  where,  retired  from  men,  they  per- 
form the  mysteries  of  a  pious  life.  Hither  they  bring  nothing 
with  them,  neither  drink  nor  food,  nor  anything  else  requisite  to 
the  necessities  of  the  body ;  they  only  bring  the  law  and  the  in- 
spired declarations  of  the  prophets,  and  hymns,  and  such  things 
by  which  knowledge  and  piety  may  be  augmented  and  perfect- 
ed." After  othci-  matters,  he  adds :  "  The  whole  time  between 
the  morning  and  evening,  is  a  constant  exercise ;  for  as  they  are 
engaged  with  the  sacred  Scriptures,  they  reason  and  comment 
upon  them;  explaining  the  philosophy  of  their  country  in  an  al- 
legorical manner.  For  they  consider  the  verbal  interpretation  as 
signs  indicative  of  a  secret  sense  com.municated  in  obscure  inti- 
mations.    They  have  also  commentaries  of  ancient  men,  who,  as 


68  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  founders  of  the  sect,  have  left  many  monuments  of  their  doc- 
trine in  allegorical  representations,  which  they  use  as  certain 
models,  imitating  the  manner  of  the  original  institution."  These 
facts  appear  to  have  heen  stated  by  a  man  who,  at  least,  has  paid 
attention  to  those  that  have  expounded  the  sacred  writings.  But 
it  is  highly  probable,  that  the  ancient  commentaries  which  he 
says  they  have,  are  the  very  gospels  and  writings  of  the  apostles, 
and  probably  some  expositions  of  the  ancient  prophets^  such  as 
are  contained  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and  many  others  of 
St.  Paul's  epistles.  Afterwards  again,  concerning  the  new  psalms 
which  they  composed,  he  thus  writes,  "  Thus  they  not  only  pass 
their  time  in  meditation,  but  compose  songs  and  hymns  unto  God, 
noting  them  of  necessity  with  measure  uncommonly  serious, 
through  every  variety  of  metres  and  tunes."  Many  other  things 
concerning  these  persons  he  writes  in  the  same  book.  But  these 
it  appeared  necessary  to  select,  in  order  to  present  the  peculiari- 
ties of  their  ecclesiastical  discipline.  But,  if  what  has  been  said 
does  not  appear  to  any  one  to  belong  to  the  discipline  of  the  gos- 
pel, but  that  it  can  also  be  applied  to  others  besides  those  men- 
tioned, let  him  at  least  be  convinced  by  the  subsequent  declara- 
tions of  the  author,  in  which,  if  he  is  "at  all  impartial,  he  adduces 
an  irrefragable  testimony  on  the  same  subject.  For  thus  he 
writes :  "  But  laying  down  temperance  first  as  a  kind  of  founda- 
tion in  their  minds,  upon  this  they  build  the  other  virtues.  For 
none  of  them  is  to  bring  food  or  drink  before  the  setting  of  the 
sun,  since  they  judge  that  philosophical  exercises  should  be  pro- 
secuted in  the  light,  but  the  necessities  of  the  body  in  the  dark. 
Whence  they  assign  the  one  to  the  day,  and  to  the  other  a  small 
portion  of  the  night.  But  some  of  them  do  not  remember  their 
food  for  three  days,  when  influenced  by  an  uncommon  desire  of 
knowledge.  And  some  are  so  delighted,  and  feast  so  luxuriously'- 
on  the  doctrhies  so  richly  and  profusely  furnished  by  wisdom,  that 
they  forbear  even  twice  this  time,  and  are  scarcely  induced  to 
take  necessary  food  even  for  six  days."  These  declarations  of 
Philo  respecting  those  of  our  communion,  we  deem  obvious  and  in  • 
disputable.  But,  should  any  one  still  be  so  hardy  as  to  contra- 
dict, let  him  at  least  abandon  his  incredulity,  by  yielding  to  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  69 

more  powerful  demonstrations,  which  is  to  be  found  among  none 
but  m  the  religion  of  Christians,  cfccording  to  the  gospel.  Our 
author  also  says,  that  there  were  also  females  that  meet  witlj 
those  of  whom  we  speak,  of  whom  the  most  are  aged  maidens, 
preserving  their  purity,  not  by  necessity,  as  some  of  the  priest- 
esses among  the  Greeks,  but  rather  by  a  voluntary  determination, 
in  consequence  of  that  zealous  desire  of  wisdom,  in  the  earnest  pro- 
secution of  which,  they  disregard  the  pleasures  of  the  body ;  as 
they  are  desirous  not  of  a  mortal  progeny  but  an  immortal,  which 
the  heavenly  mind  alone  is  able  to  produce  of  itself."  After  a  little, 
he  also  adds  the  following,  with  still  greater  stress.  "  But  they 
expound  the  sacred  writings  by  obscure,  allegorical,  and  figurative 
expressions.  Foi  the  whole  law  appears  to  these  persons  like  an 
animal,  of  which  the  literal  expressions  are  the  body,  but  the 
invisible  sense  that  lies  enveloped  in  the  expressions,  the  soul. 
This  sense  was  first  pre-eminently  studied  by  this  sect,  discerning 
as  through  a  mirror  of  names,  the  admirable  beauties  of  the 
thoughts  reflected."  Why  should  we  add  to  these  their  meetings, 
and  the  separate  abodes  of  the  men  and  the  women  in  these 
meetings,  and  the  exercises  performed  by  them,  which  are  still 
in  vogue  among  us  at  the  present  day,  and  which,  especially 
at  the  festival  of  our  Saviour's  passion,  we  are  accustomed  to 
pass  in  fasting  and  watching,  and  in  the  study  of  the  divine 
word?  All  these  the  abovementioned  author  has  accurately' 
described  and  stated  in  his  writings,  and  are  the  same  customs 
that  are  observed  by  us  alone,  at  the  present  day,  particularly 
the  vigils  of  the  great  festival,*  and  the  exercises  in  them,  and 
the  hymns  that  are  commonly  recited  among  us.  He  states  that 
whilst  one  sings  gracefully  with  a  certain  measure,  the  others, 
listening  in  silence,  join  in  singing  the  final  clauses  of  the  hymns ; 
also,  that  on  the  abovementioned  days,  they  lie  on  straw  spread 
on  the  ground,  and  to  use  liis  own  words,  "  they  abstain  altogether 
from  wine,  and  taste  no  flesh.  Water  is  their  only  drink,  and 
the  relish,  of  their  bread,  salt  and  hyssop."  Besides  this,  he 
describes  the  grades  of  dignity  among  those  ,who  administer  the 

*  The  great  festival.']     Our  author  here  speaks  of  the  passion  week,  called  by 
the  Greek  fathers,  the  Great  Week. 


^r 


70  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ecclesiastical  services  committed  to  them,  those  of  the  deacons 
and  the  presidencies  of  the  episcopate  as  the  highest.  But, 
whosoever  desires  to  have  a  more  accurate  knovv-lcdge  of  these 
things,  may  learn  them  from  the  history  already  cited ;  but  that 
Philo,  when  he  wrote  these  statements,  had  in  view  the  first  he- 
ralds of  the  gospel,  and  the  original  practices  handed  down  from 
the  apostles,  must  be  obvious  to  all. 


CHAPTEPv  XVIII. 

The  boolis  of  Philo  that  have  come  down  to  us. 

This  author,  who  was  copious  in  language,  comprehensive  in 
thought,  sublime  and  elevated  in  his  views  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, has  made  his  exposition  of  the  sacred  books  equally  dis- 
tinguished for  variety  of  matter  and  manner.  On  this  one  hand 
he  expounds  the  history  of  Genesis,  in  the  books  that  he  calls 
"  Allegories  of  the  Divine  Laws,"  following  the  order  of  the  book ; 
and  on  the  other,  he  forms  particular  divisions  of  the  chapters, 
according  to  the  subject  of  the  Scriptures,  with  the  objections 
and  solutions;  in  which  same  books  also  he  prefixes  the  tables  of 
the  questions  and  solutions  both  in  Genesis  and  Exodus  respectively 
There  are  also,  besides  these,  treatises  on  certain  problems  par- 
ticularly discussed,  such  as  two  "  On  Agriculture,"  and  two  "  On 
Drunkenness,"  and  some  others  distinguished  by  a  different  and 
peculiar  title.  Such  as  "  On  the  things  that  a  Sober  Mind  earn- 
estly desires,  and  those  which  it  execrates ;"  also,  "  On  the  Confu- 
sion of  Tongues,"  and  the  treatise  "  On  Flight  and  Discovery,"  and 
that  "  On  Literary  Convention,"  and  "  On  the  question,  '  Wlio  is 
Heir  to  things  Divine?'  "  or,  "On  the  Division  of  Things  into  equal 
and  unequal."  Moreover,  the  treatise  on  the  three  virtues,  which 
Moses  records  with  others.  Beside  these,  there  is  one  "•  On  those 
whose  Names  are  changed,  and  wherefore  their  Names  have  been 
changed ;"  in  whicb  he  says,  that  he  wrote  also  on  the  first  and 
second  covenant.  There  is  also  a  work  of  the  same  author,  "On 
Emigration,  and  on  the  Life  of  the  Wise  Man  perfect  in  Righteous- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.        •  71 

ness ;"  or,  "  On  the  Unwritten  Laws."  Also,  "  On  Giants,"  or  "  On 
the  ImmutabiUty  of  God."  And  also,  "  On  the  Proposition,  that 
.Dreams,  according  to  Moses,  are  sent  by  God" — five  books.  These 
are  the  books  that  have  come  down  to  us  on  Genesis,  but  on  Ex- 
odus we  are  acquainted  with  the  first  five  books  of  Questions  and 
Solutions;  also,  that  "On  the  Tabernacle,"  that  also  "On  the  Ten 
Commandments;"  also,  the  first  four  treatises  on  the  laws  re- 
ferring particularly  to  the  summary  heads  of  the  ten  command- 
ments. Also,  the  treatise  "  On  the  Sacrifice  of  Animals,  and  the 
Forms  of  Sacrifices;"  that  also,  "  On  the  Rewards  proposed  in  the 
Law  to  Good  Men,  and  the  Punishments  and  Curses  to  the  Wicked." 
Besides  all  these,  there  are  single  books  extant  of  the  same  author, 
as  the  treatises  "  On  Providence,"  and  the  book  composed  by  him 
"  On  the  Jews,"  and  "  The  Statesman."  To  this  may  be  added 
"Alexander,"  or  "On  Irrational  Animals  evincing  Reason."  Be- 
side these  "  On  the  Proposition  that  a  Wicked  Man  is  a  Slave ;"  to 
this  is  subjoined  the  book,  "  That  every  good  Man  is  free."  After 
which  he  added  the  book  "  On  a  Contemplative  Life,  or  the  Devout," 
from  which  we  have  related  the  circumstances  respecting  the 
life  of  the  apostolical  men.  Also,  the  interpretations  of  the  He- 
brew names  in  the  law  and  prophets,  is  said  to  be  the  result  of 
his  industry.  The  same  author,  in  the  reign  of  Caius,  coming  to 
Rome,  is  said  to  have  recited  before  the  whole  senate,  in  the 
reign  of  Claudius,  what  he  wrote  on  the  impiety  of  Caius,  to  which 
he  humorously  prefixed  the  title  "  On  the  Virtues."  And  the  dis- 
courses were  so  much  admired  as  to  be  deemed  worthy  of  a  place 
in  the  libraries.  During  this  time  also,  Paul  finishing  his  journey 
from  Jerusalem,  and  thence  round  to  Illyricum,  Claudius  expelled 
the  Jews  from  Rome,  at  which  time  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  with  the 
other  Jews  that  left  Rome,  went  over  into  Asia.  There  they  abode 
with  the  apostle,  who  was  confirming  those  among  whom  churches 
had  been  already  established  by  him.  Of  these  facts  we  are  also 
formed  in  the  sacred  book  of  the  Acts. 
9. 


72  .        ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


The  calamity  which  hefel  the  Jews  at  Jerusalern,  on  the  clay  of  the 
Passover. 

Whilst  Claudius  held  the  government  of  the  empire,  it  hap- 
pened about  the  festival  of  the  passover,  that  so  great  a  sedition 
and  disturbance  took  place  at  Jerusalem,  that  thirty  thousand 
Jews  perished  of  those  alone  who  were  crowded  out  of  the  gates 
of  the  temple,  and  thus  trodden  to  death  by  one  another.  Thus 
the  festival  became  a  season  of  mourning  and  weeping  to  the 
whole  nation  and  every  family.  This  is  almost  literally  the  ac- 
count given  by  Josephus.  But  Claudius  appointed  Agrippa,  the 
:son  of  Agrippa,  king  of  the  Jews,  having  deputed  Felix  procura- 
tor of  all  Samaria  and  Galilee,  and  also  of  the  region  situated 
beyond  Jordan.  He  died  after  a  reign  of  thirteen  years  and 
eight  months,  leaving  Nero  as  his  successor  in  the  empire. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  deeds  done  at  Jerusalem  in  the  reign  of  JVero. 

Josephus,  in  the  twentieth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  i-elates  the 
sedition  of  the  priests,  which  happened  whilst  Felix  was  governor 
of  Judea,  under  the  reign  of  Nero,  in  the  following  words: — 
•'  There  arose  also  a  sedition  between  the  chief  priests  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  priests  and  the  leaders  of  the  people  at 
Jerusalem  on  the  other.  Each  one  of  them  forming  collec- 
tions of  the  most  daring  and  disaffected,  became  a  leader,  and 
when  these  met  they  encountered  each  other  with  invectives 
and  stones.  Amid  these  disturbances  there  was  no  one  tliat  would 
interpose  to  rebuke  them,  but  all  this  was  done  with  the  greatest 
licentiousness,  as  in  a  state  destitute  of  a  ruler.  So  greatly  also, 
was  the  shamelessness  and  audacity  of  the  chief  priests,  that  they 
dared  to  send  forth  their  servants  to  the  barns,  to  seize  the  tithes 
due  to  the  priests ;  and  thus  it  happened  that  those  of  the  priests 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  73 

that  were  destitute,  saw  themselves  perishing  for  want.  Thus 
did  the  violence  of  the  factions  prevail  over  all  manner  of  justice." 
The  same  author  again  relates,  that  about  the  same  time  there 
sprung  up  a  certain  species  of  robbers  at  Jerusalem,  "  who,"  says 
he,  "  in  broad  day-light,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  slew  those 
whom  they  met ;  but  particularly  at  festivals,  mixed  with  the 
multitude,  and  with  short  swords  concealed  vmder  their  garments, 
stabbed  the  more  distinguished  of  the  people.  When  these  fell, 
the  very  murderers  themselves  took  part  in  expressing  their  in- 
dignation with  the  bystanders,  and  thus  by  the  credit  which  they 
had  with  all,  they  were  not  detected.  And  first,  he  says,  that  the 
high  priest  Jonathan  was  slaughtered  by  them ;  and  after  him, 
many  were  slain  from  day  to  day,  so  that  the  alarm  itself  was 
more  oppressive,  than  the  very  evils  with  which  they  were  as- 
sailed ;  whilst  every  one  was  in  expectation  of  death,  as  in  the 
midst  of  battle. 


CHAPTER   XXL 

The  Egyptian  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

Next  in  order,  after  other  matters,  he  proceeds  in  his  narra- 
tion. "  But  the  Jews  were  afflicted  with  an  evil  greater  than 
these,  by  the  Egyptian  impostor.  Having  come  into  the  country, 
and  assuming  the  authority  of  a  prophet,  he  collected  about  thirty 
thousand  that  were  seduced  by  him.  He  then  led  them  forth 
from  the  desert  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  determining  to  enter  Je- 
rusalem by  force,  and  after  subduing  the  Roman  garrison,  to  seize 
the  government  of  the  people,  using  his  followers  as  body  guards. 
But  Felix  anticipated  his  attack  by  going  out  to  meet  him  with 
the  Roman  military,  and  all  the  people  joined  in  the  defence ;  so 
that  when  the  battle  was  fought,  the  Egyptian  fled  with  a  few, 
and  the  most  of  his  followers  were  either  destroyed  or  captured." 
This  account  is  given  by  Josephus  in  the  second  book  of  his  his- 
tory ;  and  it  is  worth  while  to  subjoin  also  to  this  account  respect- 
ing the  Egyptian,  also  that  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
K 


4 

74  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Apostles.  It  was  there  said  to  Paul,  by  the  centurion  under  Fe- 
lix, when  the  multitude  of  the  Jews  raised  a  sedition  against  the 
apostle,  "  Art  thou  not  indeed  that  selfsame  Egyptian  that  ex- 
cited and  led  away  the  thirty  thousand  assassins  into  the  desert  ?" 
Such,  however,  were  the  events  that  happened  under  Fehx. 


CHAPTER  XXTI. 


Paul,  being  sent  prisoner  from  Judea  to  Rome,  after  his  defence, 
icas  absolved  from  all  crime. 

Festus  was  sent  by  Nero  as  successor  to  Felix.  Under  him, 
Paul,  after  having  pleaded  his  cause,  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Rome. 
But  Aristarchus  was  his  companion,  whom  he  also  somewhere  in 
his  epistles  calls  his  fellow-prisoner ;  and  here  Luke,  that  wrote 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  after  showing  that  Paul  passed  two  whole 
years  at  Rome  as  a  prisoner  at  large,  and  that  he  preached  the 
gospel  without  restraint,  brings  his  history  to  a  close.  After  plead- 
ing his  cause,  he  is  said  to  have  been  sent  again  upon  the  minis- 
try of  preaching,  and  after  a  second  visit  to  the  city,  that  he 
finished  his  life  with  martyrdom.  Whilst  he  was  a  prisoner,  he 
wrote  his  second  epistle  to  Timothy,  in  which  he  both  mentions 
his  first  defence  and  his  impending  death.  Hear,  on  these  points, 
his  own  testimony  respecting  himself.  "  In  my  former  defence  no 
one  was  present  with  me,  but  all  deserted  me.  May  it  not  be  laid 
to  their  charge.  But  the  Lord  was  with  me,  and  strengthened 
me,  that  through  me  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  might  be  ful- 
filled, and  all  the  nations  might  hear  it.  And  I  was  rescued  out 
of  the  lion's  mouth."  He  plainly  intimates  in  these  words,  "  On 
the  former  occasion  he  was  rescued  from  the  lion's  mouth,  that 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  might  be  accomplished,"  that  it  was 
Nero  to  which  he  referred  by  this  expression,  as  is  probable  on 
account  of  his  cruelty.  Therefore  he  did  not  subsequently  sub- 
join any  such  expression  as,  "  he  will  rescue  me  from  the  lion's 
mouth,"  for  he  saw  in  spirit  how  near  his  approaching  death 
was.     Hence,  after  the  expression,  "  and  I  was  rescued  from  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  75 

lion's  mouth,"  this  also,  "  the  Lord  will  rescue  me  from  every  evil 
•work,  and  vi^ill  save  me  unto  his  heavenly  kingdom,"  indicating 
the  martyrdom  that  he  would  soon  suffer ;  which  he  more  clearly 
expresses  in  the  same  epistle,  "  for  I  am  already  poured  out,  and 
the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand."  And  indeed,  in  this  second 
epistle  to  Timothy,  he  shows  that  Luke  alone  was  with  him  when 
he  wrote,  but  at  his  former  defence  not  even  he.  Whence,  it  is 
probable,  that  Luke  wrote  his  Acts  of  the  Apostles  about  that 
time,  continuing  his  history  down  to  the  time  that  he  was  with 
Paul,  Thus  much  we  have  said,  to  show  that  the  martyrdom 
of  the  apostle  did  not  take  place  at  that  period  of  his  stay  at 
Rome  when  Luke  wrote  his  history.  It  is  indeed  probable,  that 
as  Nero  was  more  disposed  to  mildness  in  the  beginning,  that  the 
defence  of  the  apostle's  doctrine  would  be  more  easily  received ;. 
but  as  he  advanced  to  such  criminal  excesses  as  to  disregard  all 
right,  the  apostles  also,  with  others,  experienced  the  effects  of  the 
measures  pursued  against  them. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

T/ie  martyrdom  of  James,  ivho  was  called  the  brother  of  the  Lard. 

But  the  Jews,  after  Paul  had  appealed  to  Caesar,  and  had  been 

sent  by  Festus  to  Rome,  frustrated  in  their  hope  of  entrapping  him 

by  the  snares  they  had  laid,  turn  themselves  against  James,  the 

brother  of  the  Lord,  to  whom  the  episcopal  seat  at  Jerusalem  was 

committed  by  the  apostles.     The  following  were  their  nefarious 

measures  also  against  him.     Conducting  him  into  a  public  place, 

they  demanded  that  he  should  renounce  the  faith  of  Christ  before 

all  the  people ;  but  contrary  to  the  sentiments  of  all,  with  a  firm 

voice,  and  much  beyond  their  expectation,  he  declared  himself 

fully  before  the  whole  multitude,  and  confessed  that  Jesus  Christ 

was  the  Son  of  God,  our  Saviour  and  J^ord.     Unable  to  bear  any 

longer  the  testimony  of  the  man,  who,  on  account  of  his  elevated 

virtue  and  piety  was  deemed  the  most  just  of  men,  they  seized 
9# 


76  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  opportunity  of  licentiousness  afforded  by  the  prevailing  anar- 
chy, and  slew  him.  For  as  Festus  died  about  this  time  in  Judea, 
the  province  was  without  a  governor  and  head.  But,  as  to  the 
manaer  of  James's  death,  it  has  been  already  stated  in  the  words 
of  Clement,  that  he  was  thrown  from  a  wing  of  the  temple,  and 
beaten  to  death  with  a  club.  Hegesippus  also,  who  flourished 
nearest  the  days  of  the  apostles,  in  the  fifth  book  of  his  Commen- 
taries gives  the  most  accurate  account  of  him,  thus :  "  But  James, 
the  brother  of  the  Lord,  w^ho,  as  there  were  many  of  this  name, 
was  surnamed  the  Just  by  all,  from  the  days  of  our  Lord  until 
now,  received  the  government  of  the  church  with  the  apostlefc 
This  apostle  was  consecrated  from  his  mother's  womb.  He  drank 
neither  wine  nor  fermented  liquors,  and  abstained  from  anima . 
food.  A  razor  never  came  upon  his  head,  he  never  anointed  with 
oil,  and  never  used  a  bath.  He  alone  was  allowed  to  enter  tht 
sanctuary.  He  never  wore  woollen,  but  linen  garments.  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  entering  the  temple  alone,  and  was  often  found 
upon  his  bended  knees,  and  interceding  for  the  forgiveness  of  the 
people;  so  that  his  knees  became  as  hard  as  camel's,  in  consequence 
of  his  habitual  supplication  and  kneeling  before  God.  And  indeed, 
on  account  of  his  exceeding  great  piety,  he  was  called  the  Just, 
and  Oblias  (or  Zaddick  and  Ozleam)  which  signifies  justice  and 
protection  of  the  people ;  as  the  prophets  declare  concerning  him. 
Some  of  the  seven  sects,  therefore,  of  the  people,  mentioned  by  me 
above  in  my  Commentaries,  asked  him  what  was  the  door  to  Je- 
sus ?  and  he  ansvi^ercd, '  that  he  was  the  Saviour.' "  From  which, 
som.e  believed  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  But  the  aforesaid  heresies 
did  not  believe  either  a  resurrection,  or  that  he  was  coming  to 
give  to  every  one  according  to  his  works ;  as  many  however,  as 
did  believe  did  so  on  account  of  James.  As  there  were  many 
therefore  of  the  rulers  that  believed,  there  arose  a  tumult  among 
the  Jews,  Scribes,  and  Pharisees,  saying  that  there  was  danger, 
that  the  people  would  now  expect  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  They 
came  therefore  together,  and  said  to  James,  "  We  entreat  thee, 
restrain  the  people,  who  are  led  astray  after  Jesus,  as  if  he  were 
the  Christ.  We  entreat  thee  to  persuade  all  that  are  coming  to 
the  feast  of  the  passover  rightly  concerning  Jesus;  for  we  all 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  77 

have  confidence  in  thee.  For  we  and  all  the  people  hear  thee 
tcsthnony  that  thou  art  just,  and  thou  respectest  not  persons. 
Persuade  therefore  the  people  not  to  be  led  astray  by  Jesus,  for 
we  and  all  the  people  have  great  confidence  in  thee.  Stand  there- 
fore upon  a  wing  of  the  temple,  that  thou  mayest  be  conspicuous 
on  high,  and  thy  words  may  be  easily  heard  by  all  the  people ;  for 
all  the  tribes  have  come  together  on  account  of  the  passover,  with 
some  of  the  Gentiles  also.  The  aforesaid  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
therefore,  placed  James  upon  a  wing  of  the  temple,  and  ci'ied  out 
to  him,  '  O  thou  just  man,  whom  we  ought  all  to  believe,  since  the 
people  are  led  astray  after  Jesus  that  was  crucified,  declare  to  us. 
what  is  the  door  to  Jesus  that  was  crucified.'  And  he  answered 
with  a  loud  voice, '  Why  do  ye  ask  me  respecthig  Jesus  the  Son 
of  Man  1  He  is  now  sitting  in  the  heavens,  on  the  right  hand  of 
great  Power,  and  is  about  to  come  on  the  clouds  of  heaven.'  And 
as  many  were  confirmed,  and  gloried  in  this  testimony  of  James, 
and  said,  Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David,  these  same  priests  and 
Pharisees  said  to  one  another, '  We  have  done  badly  in  affording 
such  testimony  to  Jesus,  but  let  us  go  up  and  cast  him  down,  that 
they  may  dread  to  beUeve  in  him.'  And  they  cried  out,  '  Oh,  oh, 
Justus  himself  is  deceived,'  and  they  fulfilled  that  which  is  writ- 
ten in  Isaiah,  '  Let  us  take  away  the  just,  because  he  is  offensive 
to  us ;  wherefore  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings.'  Is.  iii. 
Going  up  therefore,  they  cast  down  the  just  man,  saying  to  one 
another,  '  Let  us  stone  James  the  Just'  And  they  began  to  stone 
him,  as  he  did  not  die  immediately  when  cast  down ;  but  turning 
round,  he  knelt  down  saying,  '  I  entreat  thee,  O  Lord  God  and 
Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.'  Thus 
they  were  stoning  him,  when  one  of  the  priests  of  the  sons  of  Re- 
chab,  a  son  of  the  Rechabites,  spoken  of  by  Jeremiah  the  pro- 
phet, cried  out  saying,  '  Cease,  what  are  you  doing  ?  Justus  is 
praying  for  you.'  And  one  of  them,  a  fuller,  beat  out  the  brains 
of  Justus  witli  the  club  that  he  used  to  beat  out  clothes.  Thus 
he  suffered. martyrdom,  and  they  buried  him  on  the  spot  where 
his  tombstone  is  still  remaining,  by  the  temple.  He  became  a 
faithful  witness,  both  to  the  Jews  and  Greeks,  that  Jesus  is  the 
Chribt.     Immediately  after  this,  Vespasian  invaded  and  took  Ju- 


78  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

dea."  Such  is  the  more  ample  testimony  of  Hegesippus,  in  which 
he  fully  coincides  with  Clement.  So  admirable  a  man  indeed  was 
James,  and  so  celebrated  among  all  for  his  justice,  that  even  the 
wiser  part  of  the  Jews  were  of  opinion  that  this  was  the  cause  of 
the  immediate  siege  of  Jerusalem,  which  happened  to  them  for 
no  other  reason  than  the  crime  against  him.  Josephus  also  has 
not  hesitated  to  superadd  this  testimony  in  his  works :  "  These 
things,"  says  he,  "  happened  to  the  Jews  to  avenge  James  the 
Just,  who  was  the  brother  of  him  that  is  called  Christ,  and 
whom  the  Jews  had  slain,  notwithstanding  his  pre-eminent  jus- 
tice." The  same  writer  also  relates  his  death,  in  the  twentieth 
book  of  his  Antiquities,  in  the  following  words :  "  But  Cesar  hav- 
ing learned  the  death  of  Festus,  sends  Albinus  as  governor  of  Ju- 
dea.  But  the  younger  Ananus,  whom  we  mentioned  before  as  ob- 
,  taining  the  priesthood,  was  particularly  rash  and  daring  in  his 
disposition.  He  was  also  of  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees,  which  are 
the  most  unmerciful  of  all  the  Jews  in  the  execution  of  judgment, 
as  we  have  already  shown.  Ananus,  therefore,  being  of  this  cha- 
racter, and  supposing  that  he  had  a  suitable  opportunity,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  death  of  Festus,  and  Albinus  being  yet  on  the 
way,  calls  an  assembly  of  the  judges ;  and  bringing  thither  the 
brother  of  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ,  whose  name  was  James, 
with  some  others,  he  presented  an  accusation  against  them,  as  if 
they  had  violated  the  law,  and  committed  them  to  be  stoned  as 
criminals.  But  those  of  tlie  city  that  seemed  most  moderate  and 
most  accurate  in  observing  the  law,  were  greatly  offended  at  this, 
and  secretly  sent  to  the  king,  entreating  him  to  send  to  Ananus 
with  the  request  not  to  do  these  things,  saying  that  he  had  not 
acted  legally  even  before.  Some  also  went  out  to  meet  him  as 
he  came  from  Alexandria,  and  inform  him  that  it  was  not  lawful 
for  Ananus  to  summon  the  sanhedrim  without  his  knowledge.  Al- 
binus, induced  by  this  account,  writes  to  Ananus  in  a  rage,  and 
threatening  that  he  would  call  him  to  an  account.  But  king 
Agrippa,  for  the  same  reason,  took  from  him  the  priesthood,  after 
he  had  held  it  three  months,  and  appointed  Jesus  the  son  of  Dam- 
masus  his  successor.  These  accounts  are  given  respecting  James, 
who  is  said  to  have  written  the  first  of  the  epistles  general,  (ca- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  70 

tholic ;)  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  considered  spurious.  Not 
many  indeed  of  the  ancients  have  mentioned  it,  and  not  even  that 
called  the  epistle  of  Jude,  which  is  also  one  of  the  seven  called 
catholic  epistles.  Nevertheless  we  know,  that  these,  with  the  rest, 
are  publicly  used  in  most  of  the  churches. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

Annianus  ivas  appointed  the  first  bishop  of  Alexandria  after  Mark. 

Nero  was  now  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign,  when  Annianus 
succeeded  the  apostle  and  evangelist  Mark  in  the  administration 
of  the  church  at  Alexandria.  He  was  a  man  distinguished  for 
his  piety,  and  admirable  in  every  respect. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


The  'persecution  under  Xero,  in  which  Paid  and  Peter  were  ho- 
noured with  martyrdom  in  the  cause  of  religion  at  Rome. 

But  Nero  now  having  the  government  firmly  established  imder 
him,  and  henceforth  plunging  into  nefarious  projects,  began  to 
take  up  arms  against  that  very  religion  which  acknowledges 
the  one  Supreme  God.  To  describe,  indeed,  the  greatness  of 
this  man's  wckedness,  is  not  compatible  with  our  present  ob- 
ject; and  as  there  are  many  that  have  given  his  history  in  the 
most  accurate  narratives,  every  one  may,  at  his  pleasure,  hi  these 
contemplate  the  grossness  of  his  extraordinary  madness.  Under 
the  influence  of  this,  he  did  not  proceed  to  destroy  so  many  thou- 
sands with  any  calculation,  but  with  such  indiscriminate  murder 
as  not  even  to  refrain  from  his  nearest  and  dearest  friends.  His 
own  mother  and  wife,  with  many  others  that  were  his  near  rela- 
tives, he  killed  Uke  strangers  and  enemies,  with  various  kinds  of 
deaths.  And,  indeed,  in  addition  to  all  his  other  crimes,  this  too 
was  yet  wanting  to  complete  the  catalogue,  that  he  was  the  first 


80  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  the  emperors  that  displayed  himself  an  enemy  of  piety  towards 
the  Deity.  This  fact  is  recorded  by  the  Roman  TertuUian,  in  lan- 
guage like  the  following :  "  Examine  your  records.  There  you 
will  find  that  Nero  was  the  first  that  persecuted  this  doctrine, 
particularly  then  when  after  subduing  all  the  east,  he  exercised 
his  cruelty  against  all  at  Rome.  Such  is  the  man  of  whom  we 
boast,  as  the  leader  in  our  punishment.  For  he  that  knows  who 
he  was,  may  know  also  that  there  could  scarcely  be  any  thing  but 
what  was  great  and  good,  condemned  by  Nero."  Thus  Nero  pub- 
licly announcing  himself  as  the  chief  enemy  of  God,  was  led  on  in 
his  fury  to  slaughter  the  apostles.  Paul  is  therefore  said  to  have 
been  beheaded  at  Rome,  and  Peter  to  have  been  crucified  under 
him.  And  this  account  is  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that  the  names 
of  Peter  and  Paul  still  remain  in  the  cemeteries  of  that  city  even 
to  this  day.  But  likewise,  a  certain  ecclesiastical  writer,  Caius 
by  name,  who  was  born  about  the  time  of  Zephyrinus  bishop  of 
Rome,  disputing  with  Proclus  the  leader  of  the  Phrygian  sect, 
gives  the  following  statement  respecting  the  places  where  the 
earthly  tabernacles  of  the  aforesaid  apostles  are  laid.  "  But  I  can 
show,"  says  he,  "  the  trophies  of  the  apostles.  For  if  you  will  go 
to  the  Vatican,  or  to  the  Ostian  road,  you  will  find  the  trophies 
of  those  who  have  laid  the  foundation  of  this  church.  And  thai 
both  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  same  time,  Dionysius  bishop  of 
Corinth  bears  the  following  testimony,  in  his  discourse  addressed 
to  the  Romans.  '  Thus,  likewise  you,  by  means  of  this  admoni- 
tion, have  mingled  the  flourishing  seed  that  had  been  planted  by 
Peter  and  Paul  at  Pvome  and  Corinth.  For  both  of  these  having 
planted  us  at  Corinth,  likewise  instructed  us ;  and  having  in  like 
maimer  taught  in  Italy,  they  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  same 
time.'  "*  This  testimony  I  have  superadded,  in  order  that  the 
truth  of  the  history  might  be  still  more  confirmed. 

•  In  this  passage  from  Dionysius,  Valesius  has  followed  the  text  of  Syncellns 
contrary  to  that  commonly  received.     Wc  give  the  passage  according  to  the  latter 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  81 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The  Jews  icere  afflicted  icith  innmnerahle  evils,  and  fnally  com- 
menced a  loar  ivith  the  Romans. 

JosEPHus,  in  his  account  of  the  great  distresses  that  seized  the 
Jewish  nation,  relates  also,  in  his  writings,  that  beside  many 
others,  vast  numbers  also  of  those  that  were  of  the  first  rank 
among  the  Jews,  were  scourged  with  rods,  and  nailed  upon  the 
cross  at  Jerusalem,  by  Florus.  For  he  happened  to  be  procurator 
of  Judea  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  in  the  twelfth  year 
of  Nero's  reign.  "  Then,"  says  he,  "  throughout  all  Syria  a  tre 
mendous  commotion  seized  upon  the  inhabitants,  in  consequence 
of  the  revolt  of  the  Jews.  Every  where  did  the  inhabitants  of 
the  cities  destroy  the  Jews  without  mercy.  So  that  you  could 
see  the  cities  filled  with  unburied  corpses,  and  the  dead  bodies  of 
the  aged  mixed  with  those  of  children,  and  women  not  even 
having  the  necessary  covering  of  their  bodies.  The  whole  pro- 
vince, indeed,  was  filled  with  indescribable  distresses.  But  great- 
er still  than  the  crimes  already  endured,  was  the  anticipation 
of  those  that  threatened."  Such  is  the  statement  of  Josephus, 
and  such  was  the  condition  of  the  Jews  at  this  time. 


BOOK   III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  parts  of  the  icorld  ivhere  Christ  was  preached  by  the  Apostles. 

Such,  then,  was  the  state  of  the  Jews  at  this  time.  But  the 
holy  apostles  and  disciples  of  our  Saviour,  heing  scattered  over 
the  whole  world,  Thomas,  according  to  tradition,  received  Par- 
thia  as  his  allotted  region ;  Andrew  received  Scythia,  and  John, 
Asia ;  where,  after  continuing  for  some  time,  he  died  at  Ephesus. 
Peter  appears  to  have  preached  through  Pontus,  Galatia,  Bithy- 
nia,  Cappadocia  and  Asia,  to  the  Jews  that  were  scattered  abroad; 
who  also,  finally  coming  to  Rome,  was  crucified  with  his  head 
downward,  having  requested  of  himself  to  suffer  in  this  way. 
Why  should  we  speak  of  Paul,  spreading  the  gospel  of  Christ 
from  Jerusalem  to  Illyricum,  and  finally  suffering  martyrdom  at 
Rome,  under  Nero  ?  This  account  is  given  by  Origen,  in  the 
third  book  of  his  exposition  of  Genesis. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  first  that  presided  over  the  church  at  Rome. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Paul  and  Peter,  Linus  was  the  first 

that  received  the  episcopate  at  Rome.     Paul  makes  mention  of 

him  in  his  epistle  from  Rome  to  Timothy,  in  the  address  at  the 

close  of  the  epistle,  saying,  "  Eubulus  and  Prudens,  and  Linus, 

and  Qaudia,  salute  thee." 

82 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  88 

CHAPTER  III. 

Of  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostles. 

As  to  the  writings  of  Peter,  one  of  his  epistles  called  the  first, 
is  acknowledged  as  genuine.  For  this  was  anciently  used  by  the 
ancient  fathers  in  their  writings,  as  an  undoubted  work  of  the 
apostle.  But  that  which  is  called  the  second,  we  have  not,  indeed, 
understood  to  be  imbodied  with  the  sacred  books,  evSiaOi^xov^ 
yet  as  it  appeared  useful  to  many,  it  was  studiously  read  with 
the  other  Scriptures.  As  to  that  work,  however,  which  is 
ascribed  to  him,  called  "  The  Acts,"  and  the  "  Gospel  according 
to  Peter,"  and  that  called  "  The  Preaching  and  the  Revelations 
of  Peter,"  we  know  nothing  of  their  being  handed  down  as  Ca- 
tholic* writings.  Since  neither  among  the  ancient  nor  the  eccle- 
siastical writers  of  our  own  day,  has  there  been  one  that  has  ap- 
pealed to  testimony  taken  from  them.  But  as  I  proceed  in  my 
history,  I  shall  carefully  show  with  the  successions  of  the  apostles, 
what  ecclesiastical  writers  in  their  times  respectively  made  use 
of  any  of  the  disputed  writings,  and  what  opinions  they  have 
expressed,  both  respecting  the  incorporated  (svhadrjxoL)  and 
acknowledged  writings,  and  also  what  respecting  those  that  were 
not  of  this  description.  These,  however,  are  those  that  are  called 
Peter's  epistles,  of  which  I  have  understood  only  one  epistle  to 
be  genuine,  and  admitted  by  the  ancient  fathers.  The  epistles 
of  Paul  are  fourteen,  all  well  known  and  beyond  doubt.  It 
sliould  not,  however,  be  concealed,  that  some  have  set  aside  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  saying,  that  it  was  disputed,  as  not  being 
one  of  St.  Paul's  epistles ;  but  we  shall  in  the  proper  place,  also 
subjoin  what  has  been  said  by  those  before  our  time  respecting 
this  epistle.  As  to  what  are  called  his  acts,  I  have  not  even  un- 
derstood that  they  were  among  the  works  of  undisputed  authority. . 
But  as  the  same  apostle  in  the  addresses  at  the  close  of  the  Epis- 

•  Catholic]     The  word  here  plainly  means  universally  received;  i.  e.  genuine,  as 
it  is  happily  rendered  by  Shorting. 
10 


84  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

tie  to  the  Romans,  has  among  others  made  mention  also  of 
Hermes,  of  whom  they  say  we  have  the  book  called  Pastor,  it 
should  be  observed,  that  this  too  is  disputed  by  some,  on  account 
of  whom  it  is  not  placed  among  those  of  acknowledged  authority 
Qo[.io?MyoviJ.EVOL.)  By  others,  however,  it  is  judged  most  neces- 
sary, especially  to  those  who  need  an  elementary  introduction. 
Hence  we  know  that  it  has  been  already  in  public  use  in  our 
churches,  and  I  have  also  understood  by  tradition,  that  some  of 
the  most  ancient  writers  have  made  use  of  it.  Let  this  suffice 
for  the  present,  to  show  what  books  were  disputed,  what  admit- 
ted by  all  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  first  successors  of  the  Apostles. 

That  Paul  preached  to  the  Gentiles,  and  established  churches 
from  Jerusalem  and  around  as  far  as  Illyricum,  is  evident  both 
from  his  own  expressions,  and  from  the  testimony  of  Luke  in  the 
book  of  Acts.  And  in  what  provinces  Peter  also  proclaimed  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Covenant,  appears 
from  his  own  writings,  and  may  be  seen  from  that  epistle  we 
have  mentioned  as  admitted  in  the  canon,  and  which  he  address- 
ed to  the  Hebrews  in  the  dispersion  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia, 
Cappadocia,  Asia  and  Bithynia.  But  how  many  and  which  of 
these,  actuated  by  a  genuine  zeal,  were  judged  suitable  to  feed 
the  churches  established  by  these  apostles,  it  is  not  easy  to  say, 
any  farther  than  may  be  gathered  from  the  writings  of  Paul. 
For  he,  indeed,  had  innumerable  fellow-labourers,  or  as  he  him- 
self calls  them,  fellow-soldiers  in  the  church.  Of  these,  the 
greater  part  are  honoured  with  an  indelible  remembrance  by  him 
in  his  epistles,  where  he  gives  a  lasting  testimony  concerning 
them.  Luke  also,  in  his  Acts,  speaking  of  his  friends,  mentions 
them  by  name.  Timothy,  indeed,  is  recorded  as  having  first  re- 
ceived the  episcopate  at  Ephesus,  (sv  Epheso  7tapOixia{)  as 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  85 

Titus  also,  was  appointed  over  the  churches  in  Crete.  But 
Luke,  who  was  born  at  Antioch,  and  by  profession  a  physician, 
being  for  the  most  part  connected  with  Paul,  and  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  has  left  us  in  two  inspired 
books,  the  institutes  of  that  spiritual  healing  art  which  he  obtain- 
ed from  them.  One  of  these  is  his  gospel,  in  which  he  testifies 
that  he  has  recorded,  "  as  those  who  were  from  the  beginning 
eye-witnesses,  and  ministei-s  of  the  word,"  delivered  to  him, 
whom  also,  he  says,  he  has  in  all  things  followed.  The  other  is 
his  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  he  composed,  not  from  what  he 
had  heard  from  others,  but  from  what  he  had  seen  himself.  It  is 
also  said,  that  Paul  usually  referred  to  his  gospel,  whenever, 
in-  his  epistles  he  spoke  of  some  particular  gospel  of  his  own, 
sayiug,  "  according  to  my  gospel."  But  of  the  rest  that  accom- 
panied Paul,  Crescens  is  mentioned  by  him  as  sent  to  Gaul.  Li- 
nus, whom  he  has  mentioned  in  his  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  as 
his  companion  at  Rome,  has  been  before  shown  to  have  been  the 
first  after  Peter,  that  obtained  the  episcopate  at  Rome.  Clement 
also,  who  was  appointed  the  third  bishop  of  this  church,  is  proved 
by  him  to  have  been  a  fellow-labourer  and  fellow-soldier  with 
him.  Beside,  the  Areopagite,  called  Dionysius,  whom  Luke  has 
recorded  in  his  Acts,  after  Paul's  address  to  the  Athenians,  in  the 
Areopagus,  as  the  first  that  believed,  is  mentioned  by  Dionysius, 
another  of  the  ancients,  and  pastor  of  the  church  at  Corinth,  as 
the  first  bishop  of  the  church  at  Athens.  But  the  manner  and 
times  of  the  apostolic  succession  shall  be  mentioned  by  us  as  we 
proceed  in  our  course.  Now  let  us  pursue  the  order  of  our  his- 
tory. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  last  siege  of  the  Jews  after  Christ. 

After  Nero  had  held  the  government  about  thirteen  years, 
Galba  and  Otho  reigned  about  a  year  and  six  months.  Vespasian, 
who  had  become  illustrious  in  the  campaign  against  the  Jews, 


Sfe  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

was  then  proclaimed  sovereign  in  Judea,  receiving  the  title  of  em 
peror  from  the  armies  there.  Directing  his  course,  therefore,  im- 
mediately to  Rome,  he  commits  the  care  of  the  war  against  the 
Jews,  into  the  hands  of  his  son  Titus ;  for  after  the  ascension  of 
our  Saviour,  the  Jews,  in  addition  to  their  wickedness  against 
him,  were  now  incessantly  plotting  mischief  against  his  apostles. 
First,  they  slew  Stephen  by  stoning  him,  next  James  the  son  of 
Zebedee,  and  the  brother  of  John,  by  beheading,  and  finally 
James,  who  first  obtained  the  episcopal  seat  at  Jerusalem,  after 
the  ascension  of  our  Saviour,  and  was  slain  in  the  manner  before 
related.  But  the  rest  of  the  apostles  who  were  harassed  in  in- 
numerable ways,  with  a  view  to  destroy  them,  and  driven  from 
the  land  of  Judea,  had  gone  forth  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  na 
tions,  relying  upon  the  aid  of  Clirist,  when  he  said,  "  Go  ye,  teach 
all  nations  in  my  name."  The  whole  body,  however,  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  having  been  commanded  by  a  divine  reve- 
lation, given  to  men  of  approved  piety  there  before  the  war,  re- 
moved from  the  city,  and  dwelt  at  a  certain  town  beyond  the 
Jordan,  called  Pella.  Here,  those  that  believed  in  Christ,  having 
removed  from  Jerusalem,  as  if  holy  men  had  entirely  abandoned 
the  royal  city  itself,  and  the  whole  land  of  Judea ;  the  divine  jus- 
tice, for  their  crimes  against  Christ  and  his  apostles,  finally 
overtook  them,  totally  destroying  the  whole  generation  of  these 
evildoers  from  the  earth.  But  the  number  of  calamities  which 
then  overwhelmed  the  whole  nation ;  the  extreme  misery  to  which 
particularly  the  inhabitants  of  Judea  were  reduced,  the  vast 
numbers  of  men,  with  women  and  children  that  fell  by  the  sword 
and  famine,  and  innumerable  other  forms  of  death;  the  numerous 
and  great  cities  of  Judea  that  were  besieged,  as  also  the  great 
and  incredible  distresses  that  those  experienced  who  took  refuge 
at  Jerusalem,  as  to  a  place  of  perfect  security ;  these  facts,  as 
well  as  the  whole  tenor  of  the  war,  and  each  particular  of  its 
progress,  when  finally,  the  abomination  of  desolation,  according 
to  the  prophetic  declaration,  stood  in  the  very  temple  of  God,  so 
celebrated  of  old,  but  which  now  was  approaching  its  total  down- 
fal  and  final  destruction  by  fire;  all  this,  I  say,  any  one  that  wishes 
may  see  accurately  stated  in  the  history  written  by  Josephus, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  87 

It  may,  however,  be  necessary  to  state,  in  the  very  words  of  this 
writer,  how  about  three  liundred  thousand  that  flocked  from  all 
parts  of  Judea  at  the  time  of  the  passover,  were  shut  up  in  Jeru- 
salem as  in  a  prison.  For  it  was  indeed  just,  that  in  those  very 
days  in  which  they  had  inflicted  sufferings  upon  the  Saviour  and 
benefactor  of  all  men,  the  Christ  of  God,  destruction  hliould  over- 
take them,  thus  shut  up  as  in  a  prison,  as  an  exhibition  of  the  di- 
vine justice.  Passing  by,  then,  the  particular  calamities  which 
befel  them,  such  as  they  sutFered  from  the  sword,  and  other  means 
employed  against  them,  I  may  deem  it  sufficient  only  to  subjoin 
the  calamities  they  endured  from  the  famine.  So  that  they  who 
peruse  the  present  history,  may  know  in  some  measure,  tliat  the 
divine  vengeance  did  not  long  delay  to  visit  them  for  then"  iniquity 
against  the  Christ  of  God. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

The  famine  ivhich  oppressed  the  Jews. 

Let  us,  then,  with  the  fifth  book  of  Josephus's  history  again  in  our 
hands,  go  through  the  ti  agedy  of  events  which  then  occurred.  "  It 
was  equally  dangerous,"  says  he,  "  for  the  more  wealthy  to  remain. 
For  under  the  pretext  of  desertion,  a  man  was  slain  for  his  wealth. 
But  the  madness  of  the  rioters  increased  with  the  famme,  and  both 
kinds  of  misery  were  inflamed  from  day  to  day.  Provisions  were 
plainly  nowhere  to  be  had.  Hence  they  burst  into  houses  to  search 
for  food,  and  if  they  found  any,  they  would  scourge  the  owners  as 
if  they  intended  to  deny  they  had  it ;  but  if  they  found  none,  they 
tortured  them  as  if  they  had  carefully  concealed  it.  The  bodies 
of  the  poor  wretches,  however,  were  evidence  enough  whether 
they  had  or  had  not.  Some  of  them,  therefore,  that  were  yet 
sound  in  health,  they  supposed  to  have  an  abundance  of  food,  but 
those  that  were  wan  and  pallid  they  passed  by ;  for  it  seemed  ab- 
surd to  kill  men  that  were  soon  likely  to  die  for  want.  Many  se- 
cretly exchanged  their  property  for  a  single  measure  of  wheat,  if 
they  happened  to  be  the  more  wealthy ;  of  barley,  if  they  were 
10* 


88  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  the  poorer  sort.     Then  locking  themselves  in  the  most  retired 
parts  of  their  houses,  some,  from  excessive  hunger,  eat  the  grain 
unprepared ;  others  however,  haked  it  according  as  necessity  or 
fear  directed.     As  to  a  table,  there  was  none  set  any  where ;  but 
taking  the  food  from  the  fire,  they  tore  it  asunder  yet  crude  and 
raw.     Wretched  indeed  was  the  fare,  and  a  lamentable  sight  it 
was,  where  the  most  powerful  grasped  after  all,  and  the  weaker 
were  constrained  to  mourn.     For  famine  surpasses  all  other  evils, 
but  it  destroys  nothing  so  effectually  as  shame ;  for  that  whicJi 
would  otherwise  demand  some  regard,  is  contemned  in  this.  Thus 
wives  tore  away  the  food  from  the  very  mouths  of  their  husbands, 
children  from  their  parents,  and  what  was  most  wretched  of  all, 
mothers  from  their  infants ;  so  that  whilst  their  dearest  children 
lay  wasting  in  their  arms,  there  was  not  shame  enough  to  prevent 
them  taking  away  the  very  drops  that  supported  life.     And  even 
in  doing  this,  they  did  not  remain  undiscovered ;  for  whenever 
they  saw  a  door  locked,  this  was  a  sign  that  those  within  were 
taking  food,  and  then  immediately  bursting  open  the  doors  they 
rushed  in,  and  choked  them,  almost  forcing  the  morsels  out  of 
their  very  throats.     Old  men  were  beaten  that  held  back  their 
food,  and  women  were  torn  by  the  hair,  if  they  concealed  what 
they  had  in  their  liands.     Nor  was  there  any  pity  for  gray  hairs 
or  for  infants ;  but  taking  up  the  infants  chnging  to  the  morsels, 
Ihey  dashed  them  to  the  ground.  But  they  were  much  more  cruel 
to  those  who  anticipated  their  entrance,  and  were  devouring  what 
they  wished  to  seize,  just  as  if  they  had  been  wronged  by  them. 
They  also  devised  terrible  modes  of  torture,  to  discover  where 
there  v/as  any  food.   For  by  cruel  devices  to  prevent  every  relief 
of  nature,  they  caused  the  unhappy  individual  to  suffer  such  tor- 
ment,* that  the  very  recital  makes  one  shudder  at  what  he  would 
endure,  before  he  confessed  that  he  had  one  loaf  of  bread,  or  that 
he  had  a  single  handful  of  wheat  concealed.     The  tormentors 
themselves,  however,  suffered  no  want ;  for  it  might  have  been 
some  palliation,  if  necessity  had  compelled  them  thus.     But  they 

•  The  passages  that  we  have  here  thrown  into  one,  are  thus  given  by  Valec  us  : 
♦  Nam  miseris  hoir.inibus  ipsos  quiJem  genitalium  meatus  ervis  obturabant,  podi- 
cem  proeacutis  sudibus  transfigebant." 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  89 

did  it  with  the  view  to  exercise  their  ferocity  and  to  provide  for 
themselves  for  the  following  days.  When  any  crept  forth  at  night 
to  the  outposts  of  the  Romans,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  wild 
herbs  and  grass,  these  tormentors  would  go  out  to  meet  them,  and 
when  they  seemed  just  to  have  escaped  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
the  oppressors  robbed  them  of  whatever  they  brought.  And  very 
often,  though  they  entreated  them,  and  conjured  them  by  the 
most  awful  name  of  God,  to  give  them  some  part  of  that  for  which 
they  had  risked  their  lives,  they  notwithstanding  gave  them  no- 
thing. It  was  a  happy  circumstance  yet,  if  in  addition  to  robbery, 
they  were  not  also  slain."  This  same  author,  after  a  few  parti- 
culars, also  says :  "  But  with  the  hope  of  egress,  was  cut  off  all 
hope  of  safety  to  the  Jews ;  and  the  famine  now  penetrating  deeply, 
was  consuming  the  people  by  houses  and  families.  The  houses 
were  filled  with  women  and  children  that  had  thus  perished ;  the 
byways  with  the  dead  bodies  of  old  men.  But  the  boys  and  young 
men,  swelling  up,  tottered  and  reeled  like  shadows  through  the 
markets,  and  then  falling  down,  lay  wheresoever  the  malady  had 
overtaken  them.  The  sick  were  not  even  able  to  bury  their  dead, 
and  those  yet  in  health  and  strength  were  loth  to  do  it,  both  on 
account  of  the  number  of  the  dead,  and  the  uncertainty  of  their 
own  fate.  Many,  indeed,  fell  down  and  died  upon  those  they  were 
burying ;  many  went  to  the  sepulchres,  even  before  they  were 
overtaken  by  the  struggles  of  death.  There  was,  however,  nei- 
ther weeping  nor  lamentation,  but  the  famine  prevailed  over  all 
affection.  With  tearless  eyes  did  they  who  were  yet  struggling 
with  death,  look  on  those  that  had  gone  to  rest  before  them.  A 
deey  silence  and  deadly  gloom  also  pervaded  the  city.  But  more 
oppressive  than  all  these,  were  the  robbers  that  broke  into  the 
houses,  now  mere  sepulchres,  and  spoiling  the  dead,  and  tearing 
off  the  garments  of  their  bodies,  they  went  off  with  a  laugh.  They 
would  also  try  the  points  of  their  swords  in  the  dead  bodies,  and 
some  of  those  that  were  lying  yet  alive,  they  thrust  through,  in 
order  to  try  the  edge  of  their  weapons.  But  those  that  prayed 
them  the  relief  of  their  arm  and  sword,  they  contemptuously  left 
to  be  destroyed  by  the  famine;  whilst  those  expiring  died  with 
their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  temple,  and  left  the  factious  to  survive 
M 


90  ECCI-ESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

them.  These,  at  first,  not  bearing  the  effluvia  from  the  dead  bo- 
dies, ordered  them  to  be  buried  out  of  the  pubhc  treasury;  after- 
wards, when  they  were  not  able  to  continue  this,  they  threw  the 
bodies  from  the  walls  into  the  ditches  below.  As  Titus  went 
around  these,  and  saw  them  filled  with  the  dead,  and  the  deep 
gore  flowing  around  the  putrid  bodies,  he  groaned  heavily,  and 
raising  his  hands,  called  God  to  witness  that  it  was  none  of  his 
work."  After  some  additional  remarks,  Josephus  proceeds :  ''  1 
cannot  hesitate  to  declare  what  my  feelings  demand.  I  think 
that  had  the  Romans  lingered  to  proceed  against  these  guilty 
wretches,  the  city  would  either  have  been  swallowed  up  by  the 
opening  earth,  or  overwhelmed  with  a  flood,  or  like  Sodom,  been 
struck  with  the  lightning.  For  it  bore  a  much  more  impious  race 
than  those  who  once  endured  such  visitations.  Thus,  by  the  mad- 
ness of  these  wretches,  the  whole  people  perished."  In  the  sixth 
book,  he  also  writes  thus:  "Of  those  that  perished  by  the  femine 
in  the  city,  there  fell  an  infinite  number.  The  miseries  that  befel 
them  were  indescribable;  for  at  every  house,  wherever  there  was 
a  shadow  of  food,  there  was  war.  The  nearest  relatives  contended 
with  one  another,  to  seize  the  wretched  supports  of  life.  There 
was  no  belief  that  hunger  was  the  cause,  even  when  they  saw 
the  dying;  but  the  robbers  would  search  them  whilst  yet  breath- 
ing, lest  any  one  should  pretend  that  he  was  dying,  whilst  he  con- 
cealed food  in  his  bosom.  But  the  robbers  themselves,  with  their 
mouths  wide  open  for  want  of  food,  roved  and  straggled  hither 
and  thither,  like  mad  dogs,  beating  the  doors  as  if  they  were 
drunk ;  and  for  want  of  counsel,  rushing  twice  or  thrice  an  hour 
into  the  same  houses.  Indeed,  necessity  forced  them  to  apply  their 
teeth  to  every  thing,  and  gathering  what  was  no  food,  even  for 
the  filthiest  of  irrational  animals,  they  devoured  it,  and  did  not 
abstain  at  last  even  from  belts  and  shoes.  They  took  off  the  hides 
from  their  shields  and  devoured  them,  and  some  used  even  the 
remnants  of  old  straw  as  food ;  others  gathered  the  stubble,  and 
sold  a  very  small  weight  of  it  for  four  Attic  drachms.*     And  why 

^nic  drachms.]  The  drachma  was  a  coin  of  about  fifteen  cents.  Some  malce  it 
more.  Shorting,  in  his  translation,  has  computed  the  four  drachms  to  be  half  a 
pound  sterling,  and  refers  to  his  note  on  B.  I.  ch.  viii.     He  there  states  very  cor- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  91 

should  we  speak  of  the  excessive  severity  of  the  famine  displayed 
upon  inanimate  objects  1  I  am  going  to  relate  a  piece  of  wick- 
edness, such  as  is  not  recorded  either  by  Greeks  or  barbarians. 
It  is  horrid  to  relate,  and  incredible  to  hear.  And  indeed,  lest  I 
should  appear  to  deal  in  marvellous  stories,  I  would  cheerfully 
pass  by  this  occurrence,  if  I  had  not  innumerable  witnesses  still 
living.  I  should  also  deserve  but  cold  thanks  from  my  country,  if 
I  should  pass  by  in  carelessness  what  she  in  reality  did  sulFer. 
A  woman  that  dwelt  beyond  the  Jordan,  named  Maria,  the 
daughter  of  Eleazar,  of  the  village  Bathezor,  signifying  the  home 
of  hyssop,  distinguished  for  her  family  and  wealth,  having  taken 
refuge  at  Jerusalem  among  the  rest  of  the  multitude,  was  shut 
up  in  the  city  with  them.  The  tyrants  had  already  robbed  her 
of  all  her  other  possessions,  as  much  as  she  had  collected,  and 
brought  with  her  from  beyond  the  river  into  the  city.  But  as  to 
the  relics  of  her  property,  and  whatever  food  she  provided,  the 
ruffians  daily  rushing  in,  seized  and  bore  it  away.  A  dreadful 
indignation  overpowered  the  woman,  and  frequently  reviling  and 
cursing  the  robbers,  she  endeavoured  by  these  means  to  irritate 
them  against  herself.  But  as  no  one  either  through  resentment 
or  pity  would  slay  her,  and  she  was  weary  of  providing  food  for 
others,  and  there  was  now  no  probability  of  finding  it  any  where ; 
the  famine  now  penetrated  the  very  bowels  and  marrow,  and  re- 
sentment raged  more  violently  than  the  famine.  Urged  by  frenzy 
and  necessity  as  her  counsellors,  she  proceeded  against  natui-e 
herself  Seizing  her  little  son,  who  was  yet  at  her  breast,  she 
said,  "  v/retched  child !  in  the  midst  of  war,  famine,  and  faction, 
for  what  do  I  preserve  thee  1  Our  condition  among  the  Romans, 
thougli  we  might  live,  is  slavery.  But  even  slavery  is  anticipated 
by  famine,  and  the  assassins  are  more  cruel  than  eithci- — come, 

rectly.  that  four  Attic  drachms  equal  one  ordinary  shekel,  and  the  shekel  to  be  2*. 
6(/.  But  by  some  unnaccountable  oversight,  makes  the  four  drachms  equal  to  ten 
shillings!  He  appears  to  have  substituted  the  value  of  the  shekel  for  the  drachm, 
as  the  reader  will  readily  see.  But  what  is  still  more  surprising,  this  error  has 
been  transcribed  by  Reading  in  his  accurate  edition  of  Valesius.  See  Reading's 
edition  in  loc. 


92  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

be  thou  food  to  me,  fury*  to  the  assassins,  and  a  tale  for  men,  the 
only  one  yet  wanting  to  complete  the  miseries  of  the  Jews."  As 
she  said  this,  she  slew  her  son ;  then  roasting  him,  she  eat  one 
half  herself,  and  covering  over  the  rest,  she  kept  it.  It  was  not 
long  before  the  murderers  came  in,  and  perceiving  the  fumes  of 
the  execrable  food,  they  threatened  immediately  to  slay  her  if 
she  did  not  produce  what  she  had  prepared.  She  answered  she 
had  reserved  a  fine  portion  of  it  for  them,  and  then  uncovered 
the  relics  of  her  son.  Horror  and  amazement  immediately  seized 
them.  They  stood  mute  with  the  sight.  "  This  is  my  ovi^n  son," 
said  she,  "  and  the  deed  is  mine.  Eat,  for  I  too  have  eaten,  be 
not  more  delicate  than  a  woman,  nor  more  tender  than  a 
mother ;  but  if  you  are  so  pious,  and  reject  my  offering,  I  have 
already  eaten  half,  and  let  the  rest  remain  for  me."  After  this, 
they  indeed,  went  trembling  away,  cowardly  at  least  in  this  one 
instance,  and  yet  scarcely  yielding  to  the  mother  even  this  kuid 
of  food.  Forthwith  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  the  dreadful 
crime,  and  every  one  placing  the  wickedness  before  his  eyes,  was 
struck  with  a  horror  as  if  it  had  been  perpetrated  by  himself 
Thenceforth  the  wretched  people  overcome  with  hunger,  only 
strove  to  hasten  death;  and  it  was  a  happiness  yet  for  those  who 
died  before  they  heard  and  saw  miseries  like  these."  Such 
then,  was  the  vengeance  that  followed  the  guilt  and  impiety  of 
the  Jews  against  the  Christ  of  God. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Predictions  of  Christ. 


To  these  accounts  it  may  be  proper  to  add  the  sure  prediction 
of  our  Saviour,  in  which  he  foretold  these  very  events  as  follows : 
"  But  wo  to  them  that  are  with  child  and  those  that  give  suck  m 

•  Fury,  or  vengeance.']  The  Eiynnes  or  Furies,  according  to  the  beUef  of  the 
ancients,  were  among  the  tormenting  fiends  of  Tartarus. 


#♦ 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  93 

those  days ;  but  pray  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  nor 
on  the  Sabbath.  But  there  shall  be  then  great  distress,  such 
as  has  not  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  until  now, 
neither  may  be."  The  historian,  adding  up  the  whole  num- 
ber of  those  slain,  says,  that  eleven  hundred  thousand  perish- 
ed by  famine  and  the  sword,  and  that  the  rest,  the  factious 
and  robbers,  mutually  informing  against  each  other  after  the  cap- 
ture, were  put  to  death.  Of  the  young  men,  the  tallest,  and 
those  that  were  distinguished  for  beauty,  were  preserved  for  the 
triumph.  Of  the  remaining  multitude,  those  above  seventeen 
were  sent  prisoners  to  labour  at  the  mines  in  Egypt.  But  great 
numbers  were  distributed  to  the  provinces,  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
sword  or  wild  beasts  in  the  theatre^.  Those  under  seventeen 
were  carried  away  to  be  sold  as  slaves.  Of  these  alone,  there 
were  upwards  of  ninety  thousand.  All  this  occurred  in  this 
manner,  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  according 
to  the  predictions  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  by 
his  divine  power  foresaw  all  these  things  as  if  already  present  at 
the  time,  who  wept  and  mourned  indeed,  at  the  prospect,  as  the 
holy  evangelists  show  in  their  writings.  These  give  us  the  very 
words  that  he  uttered,  when  he  said  to  this  same  Jerusalem,  "  If 
thou  didst  know,  even  thou,  in  this  thy  day  the  things  that  belong 
to  thy  peace,  but  now  they  are  hidden  from  thy  eyes,  for  the  days 
will  come  upon  thee,  and  thy  enemies  shall  cast  a  trench  around 
thee,  and  shall  encompass  thee  around,  and  shall  every  where  shut 
thee  in,  and  they  shall  level  thee  and  thy  children  with  the 
ground."  Afterwards  he  speaks  as  if  of  the  people—"  For  there 
shall  be  great  distress  upon  earth,  and  wrath  upon  this  people, 
and  they  shall  fell  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  they  shall  be 
carried  away  captive  to  all  nations,  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trod- 
den down  by  the  nations,  until  the  times  of  the  nations  shall  be 
fulfilled."  And  again,  "  When  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  surrounded 
by  armies,  then  know  that  her  desolation  has  drawn  near." 

On  comparing  the  declarations  of  our  Saviour  with  the  other 
parts  of  the  historian's  work,  where  he  describes  the  whole  war, 
how  can  one  fail  to  acknowledge  and  wonder  at  the  truly  divine 
and  extraordinary  foreknowledge  and  prediction  of  our  Saviour '? 


'^  -M 


94  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Concerning  tlie  events,  then,  that  hefel  the  Jews  after  our  Sa 
viour's  passion,  and  those  outcries  in  whicli  the  multitude  of  the 
Jews  refused  the  condemnation  of  a  robber  and  murderer, 
but  entreated  that  the  Prince  of  Life  should  be  destroyed,  it  is 
superfluous  to  add  to  the  statement  of  the  historian.  Yet  it  may 
be  proper  to  mention,  also,  wliat  things  occurred  that  show  the 
benignity  of  that  all-gracious  Providence  that  had  deferred  their 
destruction  for  forty  years  after  Iheir  crimes  against  Christ.  Dur- 
ing which  time  the  greater  part  of  the  apostles  and  disciples, 
James  himself,  the  first  bishop  there,  usually  called  the  brother 
of  our  Lord,  still  surviving,  and  still  remaining  at  Jerusalem,  con- 
tinued the  strongest  bulwark  of  the  place.  Divine  Providence 
yet  bearing  them  with  long-sutrering,  to  see  whether  by  repent- 
ance for  what  they  had  done,  they  might  obtain  pardon  and  sal- 
vation ;  and  beside  this  long-suffering,  it  also  presented  wonderful 
prodigies  of  what  was  about  to  happen  to  those  that  did  not  re- 
pent ;  all  which  having  been  recorded  by  the  historian  already 
cited,  it  well  deserved  to  be  submitted  to  the  view  of  our  readers. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

The  signs  that  preceded  the  i 


Taking,  then,  the  work  of  this  author,  read  for  yourself  the 
account  given  by  him  in  the  sixth  book  of  his  history.  "  The 
wretched  people,"  says  he,  "  at  this  time  were  readily  persuaded 
to  give  credit  to  the  impostors  and  liars  against  God,  but  they 
neither  believed  nor  paid  regard  to  the  significant  and  wonder- 
ful events  that  prognosticated  the  approaching  desolation.  On 
the  contrary,  as  if  struck  with  stupidity,  and  as  if  they  had  nei- 
ther eyes  nor  understanding,  they  slighted  the  declarations  of 
God.  At  one  time,  when  a  star  very  like  a  sword  stood  above 
the  city,  as  also  a  comet  that  continued  to  be  seen  a  whole  year, 
at  another,  when  before  the  rebellion  and  the  commotions  that 
preceded  the  war,  whilst  the  people  were  collected  at  the  feast 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  95 

of  unleavened  bread,  on  the  eighth  of  the  month  of  April,  about 
the  ninth  hour  of  the  night,  so  great  a  light  shone  around  the 
altar  and  the  temple,  as  to  seem  a  bright  day.  And  this  con- 
tinued for  half  an  hour.  To  the  ignorant  this  appeared  a  good 
omen,  but  by  the  scribes  it  was  immediately  judged  to  refer  to 
the  events  that  took  place  at  the  issue.  At  the  same  festival  also, 
a  cow  struck  by  the  priest  for  sacrifice,  brought  forth  a  lamb  in 
the  midst  of  the  temple.  The  eastern  gate  also,  of  the  inner  tem- 
ple, which  was  of  brass  and  immense  weight,  and  which  at  eve- 
ning was  scarcely  shut  by  twenty  men,  and  resting  on  ironbound 
hinges,  and  secured  with  bohs  very  deeply  sunk  in  the  ground, 
was  seen  in  the  sixth  hour  of  the  night  to  open  of  itself.  But 
not  many  days  after  the  feast,  on  the  twenty-first  of  the  month 
of  Artimisium,  (May)  a  wonderful  spectre  was  seen,  which 
sm-passes  all  behef.  And  indeed,  that  which  I  am  about  to 
tell  would  appear  a  prodigy,  were  it  not  related  by  those  who 
had  seen  it,  and  unless  the  subsequent  miseries  had  corresponded 
to  the  signs.  For  before  the  setting  of  the  sun  there  were  seen 
chariots  and  armed  troops  on  high,  M'heeling  through  the  clouds 
around  the  whole  region,  and  surrounding  the  cities.  And  at 
the  festival  called  Pentecost,  the  priests  entering  the  temple  at 
night  according  to  their  custom,  to  perform  the  service,  said 
they  first  perceived  a  motion  and  noise,  and  after  this  a  confused 
voice  saying,  "  let  us  go  hence."  But  what  follows  is  still  more 
awful. 

One  Jesus  the  son  of  Ananias,  a  common  and  ignorant  rustic, 
four  years  before  the  war,  when  the  city  was  most  at  peace  and 
well  regulated,  coming  to  the  festival  at  which  it  was  customary 
for  all  to  make  tabernacles  at  the  temple,  to  the  honour  of  God, 
suddenly  began  to  cry  out,  "  A  voice  from  the  east,  a  voice  from 
the  west,  a  voice  from  the  four  winds.  A  voice  against  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  temple,  a  voice  against  bridegrooms  and  brides,  a 
voice  against  all  people."  This  man  went  about  crying  through 
all  the  lanes,  night  and  day.  But  some  of  the  more  distinguished 
citizens,  being  offended  at  the  ominous  cry,  and  enraged  at  the 
man,  seized  him,  and  scourged  him  with  many  and  severe  lashes. 
But  without  uttering  a  word  for  himself  or  privately  to  those 
II 


96  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

present,  he  still  persisted  in  the  cries  he  had  before  uttered.  The 
magistrates,  therefore  judging,  what  it  really  was,  a  more  than 
ordinary  divine  movement  in  the  man,  conducted  him  to  the 
Roman  governor.  Then,  though  he  was  scourged  to  the  bone, 
he  neither  entreated  nor  shed  a  tear.  But  lowering  his  voice  in 
as  mournful  a  tone  as  was  possible,  he  answered  to  every  blow, 
"  Alas,  alas,  for  Jerusalemi."  The  same  historian  relates  a  fact 
still  more  remarkable.  He  says,  "  that  an  oracular  passage  was 
found  in  the  sacred  writings,  declaring  that  about  this  time  a  cer- 
tain one  proceeding  from  that  region  would  obtain  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  world.  This  prediction,  he  supposed,  was  fulfilled 
in  Vespasian.  He,  however,  did  not  obtain  the  sovereignty  over 
the  whole  world,  but  only  over  the  Romans.  More  justly, 
therefore,  would  it  be  referred  to  Christ,  to  whom  it  was  said 
by  the  Father,  "  Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession."  Of  whom,  indeed,  at  this  very  time,  "  the  sound 
of  the  holy  apostles  went  throughout  all  the  earth,  and  their 
words  to  the  ends  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Of  Josephus  and  the  ivorks  he  has  left. 

Since  we  have  referred  to  this  writer,  it  may  be  proper  also 
to  notice  Josephus  himself,  who  has  contributed  so  much  to  the 
history  in  hand,  whence  and  from  what  family  he  sprung.  He 
shows  this,  indeed,  in  his  own  works,  as  follows.  "  Josephus  the 
son  of  Mattathias,  a  priest  of  Jerusalem,  who  at  first  himself 
fought  against  the  Romans,  and  at  whose  affairs  he  was  after- 
ward of  necessity  present,"  was  a  man  most  distinguished,  not 
only  among  his  own  countrymen  the  Jews,  but  also  among  the 
Romans ;  so  that  they  honoured  him  with  the  erection  of  a  statue 
at  Rome,  and  the  books  that  he  composed,  with  a  place  in  the 
public  library.     He  wrote  the  whole  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY.  9/ 

twenty  books,  and  his  history  of  the  Jewish  war  in  seven  books, 
which  he  says  were  not  only  written  in  Greek,  but  also  translated 
by  him  into  his  native  tongue ;  in  all  which  he  is  worthy  of 
credit ,  as  well  as  in  other  matters.  There  are  also  two  other 
works  of  his  that  deserve  to  be  read,  viz.  those  on  the  Antiquity 
of  the  Jews.  In  these  he  also  makes  his  reply  to  Apion,  the 
grammarian,  who  had  then  written  against  the  Jews  ;  they  con- 
tain also  a  refutation  of  others,  who  attempted  to  vilify  the  na- 
tional pecuharities  of  the  Jewish  people.  In  the  first  of  these 
works  he  gives  us  the  number  of  the  canonical  books  of  the 
Scriptures  called  the  Old  Testament,  such  as  are  of  undoubted 
authority  among  the  Hebrews,  setting  them  forth,  as  handed 
down  by  ancient  tradition,  in  the  following  words. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  manner  in  ivhicli  Josephus  mentions  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"  We  have  not  therefore  among  us  innumerable  books  that 
disagree  and  contradict  each  other,  but  only  two  and  twenty, 
embracing  the  record  of  all  history,  and  which  are  justly  con- 
sidered divine  compositions.  Of  these,  five  are  the  books  of  Mo. 
ses,  comprehending  both  the  laws  and  the  tradition  respecting  the 
origin  of  man,  down  to  his  own  death.  This  time  comprehends 
a  space  of  nearly  three  thousand  years.  But  from  Moses  until 
the  death  of  Artaxerxes,  who  reigned  after  Xerxes  king  of  Per- 
sia, the  prophets  after  Moses  wrote  the  events  of  their  day  in  thir- 
teen books.  The  remaining  four,  comprehend  hymns  to  the 
praise  of  God,  and  precepts  for  the  regulation  of  human  life. 
From  Artaxerxes  until  our  own  times,  the  events  are  all  re- 
corded, but  they  are  not  deemed  of  authority  equal  with  those 
before  them,  because,  that  there  was  not  an  exact  succession  of 
the  prophets.  But  it  is  evident  from  the  tiring  itself,  how  we  re- 
gard these  books  of  ours.  For  in  the  lapse  of  so  many  ages,  no 
one  has  dared  either  to  add  to  them,  or  to  take  from  them,  or  to 

N 


98  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

change  them,  but  it  has  been  implanted  in  all  Jews,  from  the  very 
origin  of  the  nation,  to  consider  them  as  the  doctrines  of  God, 
and  to  abide  by  them,  and  cheerfully  to  die  for  them  if  neces-' 
sary."  These  declarations  of  this  historian,  I  thought  might  be 
properly  here  subjoined.  There  is  also  another  work,  of  no  mean 
execution,  by  the  same  writer,  "  On  the  Supremacy  of  Reason," 
which,  indeed,  is  entitled  by  some  Maccabaicum,  because  it  con- 
tains the  conflicts  of  those  Hebrews  that  contended  manfully  foi 
the  true  religion,  as  is  related  in  the  books  called  Maccabees. 
And  at  the  end  of  the  twentieth  book  of  his  Antiquities,  the  same 
author  intimates,  that  he  had  purposed  to  write  four  books  on  God, 
and  his  existence,  according  to  the  peculiar  opinions  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation  ;  also  on  the  laws,  wherefore  it  is  permitted  by  them 
to  do  some  things  whilst  others  are  forbidden.  Other  subjects, 
he  says,  are  also  discussed  by  him  in  his  works.  In  addition  to 
these,  it  seems  proper  to  subjoin  also  the  expressions  that  he 
uses  at  the  close  of  his  Antiquities,  in  confirmation  of  the  testi- 
mony that  we  have  taken  from  him.  For  when  he  accuses  Jus- 
tus of  Tiberias,  who,  like  himself,  attempted  the  history  of  his 
own  times,  and  convicts  him  of  not  writing  according  to  truth, 
after  upbraiding  him  with  many  other  misdemeanours,  he  also 
adds  the  following  language :  "  I  am  not,  however,  afraid  re- 
specting my  writings,  as  you  are ;  but  have  presented  them  to  the 
emperors  themselves,  as  the  facts  occurred  almost  under  their 
eyes.  For  I  was  conscious  of  adhering  closely  to  the  truth  in 
my  narration,  and  hence  was  not  disappointed  in  expecting  to 
receive  their  testimony.  To  many  others,  also,  did  I  hand  my 
history,  some  of  whom  were  present  at  the  war,  as  king  Agrip- 
pa  and  some  of  his  relatives.  For  the  emperor  Titus  desired  so 
much  that  the  knowledge  of  these  events  should  be  communi- 
cated to  the  world,  that  with  his  own  hand  he  wrote  they  should 
be  published.  And  king  Agrippa  wrote  sixty-two  letters  bearing 
testimony  to  their  truth,  of  which  Josephus  subjoined  two.  But 
this  may  suffice  respecting  him.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  what 
follows  in  order. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  99 

CHAPTER  XL 

Simeon  ruled  the  church  of  Jerusalem  after  James. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  James,  and  the  capture  of  Jerusalem, 
which  immediately  followed,  the  report  is,  that  those  of  the 
apostles  and  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  that  were  yet  surviving, 
came  together  from  all  parts  with  those  that  were  related  to 
our  Lord  according  to  the  flesh.  For  the  greater  part  of  them 
were  yet  living.  .  These  consulted  together,  to  determine  whom 
it  was  proper  to  pronounce  worthy  of  being  the  successor  of 
James.  They  all  unanimously  declared  Simeon  the  son  of  Cleo- 
phas,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in  the  sacred  volume,  as  worthy 
of  the  episcopal  seat  there.  They  say  he  was  the  cousin  ger- 
man*  of  our  Saviour,  for  Hegesippus  asserts  that  Cleophas  was 
the  brother  of  Joseph. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Vespasian  commands  the  descendants  of  David  to  be 

It  was  also  said  that  Vespasian,  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem, 
commanded  all  of  the  family  of  David  to  be  sought,  that  no  one 
might  be  left  among  the  Jews  who  was  of  the  royal  stock,  and, 
that  in  consequence  another  very  violent  persecution  was  raised 
against  the  Jews. 

*  The  word  xvs-^iov  is  here  correctly  rendered  cousin  german,  by  the  mother'a 
side  Valesius  has  incorrectly  rendered  patruelis,  cousin  german,  by  the  father's 
side.  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  were  sisters. 
John  XIX.  25.  Hence,  Shorting  has  correctly  obser\'ed,  that  Hegesippus  calls 
Joseph  and  Cleophas  brothers,  by  reason  of  this  matrimonial  connexion.  See  his 
note. 

11* 


100  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Jinencletus,  the  second  bishop  of  Rome. 

After  Vespasian  had  reigned  about  ten  years,  he  was  succeed- 
ed by  his  son  Titus ;  in  the  second  year  of  whose  reign,  Linus, 
bishop  of  the  church  at  Rome,  who  had  held  the  office  about 
twelve  years,  transferred  it  to  Anencletus.  But  Titus  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Domitian,  his  brother,  after  he  had  reigned  two  years 
and  as  many  months. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Avilius,  the  second  bishop  of  Alexandria. 

Iiv  the  fourth  year  of  Domitian,  Annianus,  who  was  the  first 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  died,  after  having  filled  the  oftice  tw^enty- 
two  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  Avilius,  who  was  the  second 
bishop  of  that  city. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Clement,  the  third  bishop  of  Rome. 


been  bishop  of  Rome  twelve  years,  he  was  succeeded  by  Cle- 
ment, who,  the  apostle,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  shows, 
had  been  his  fellow-labourer,  in  these  words :  "  With  Clement 
and  the  rest  of  my  fellow-labourers,  whose  names  are  in  the  book 
of  life." 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  101 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Epistle  of  Clement. 

Of  tills  Clement  there  is  one  epistle  extant,  acknowledged  as 
genuine,  of  considerable  length  and  of  great  merit,  which  he 
wrote  in  the  name  of  the  church  at  E-ome,  to  that  of  Corinth,  at 
the  time  when  there  was  a  dissension  in  the  latter.  This  we 
know  to  have  been  publicly  read  for  common  benefit,  in  most  of 
the  churches,  both  in  former  times  and  in  our  own ;  and  that  at 
the  time  mentioned  a  sedition  did  take  place  at  Corinth,  is  abund- 
antly attested  by  Hegesippus. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

The  persecution  of  the  Christians  under  Domitian. 

DoMiTiAN,  uideed,  having  exercised  his  cruelty  against  many, 
and  unjustly  slain  no  small  number  of  noble  and  illustrious  men 
at  Rome,  and  having,  without  cause,  punished  vast  numbers  of 
honourable  men  with  exile  and  the  confiscation  of  their  property, 
at  length  established  himself  as  the  successor  of  Nero,  in  his 
hatred  and  hostility  to  God.  He  was  the  second  that  raised  a 
persecution  against  us,  although  his  father  Vespasian  had  attempt- 
ed nothing  to  our  prejudice. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Of  John  the  Apostle,  and  the  Revelation. 

In  this  persecution,  it  is  handed  down  by  tradition,  that  the 
apostle  and  evangelist  John,  who  was  yet  living,  in  consequence 
of  his  testimony  to  the  divine  word,  was  condemned  to  dwell  on 
the  island  of  Patmos.  Irenaeus,  indeed,  in  his  fifth  book  against 
the  heresies,  where  he  speaks  of  the  calculation  formed  on  the 


102  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

epithet  of  Antichrist,  in  the  abovementioned  .revelation  of  John, 
speaks  in  the  following  manner  respecting  him.  "  If,  however,  it 
were  necessary  to  proclaim  his  name,  (i.  e.  Antichrist,)  openly  at 
the  present  time,  it  would  have  been  declared  by  him  who  saw 
the  revelation,  for  it  is  not  long  since  it  was  seen,  but  almost  in 
our  own  generation,  at  the  close  of  Domitian's  reign."  To  such 
a  degree,  indeed,  did  the  doctrine  which  .we  profess,  flourish,  that 
even  historians  that  are  very  far  from  befriending  our  religion, 
have  not  hesitated  to  record  this  persecution  and  its  martyrdoms 
in  their  histories.  These  also,  have  accurately  noted  the  time, 
for  it  happened,  according  to  them,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Domi- 
tian.  At  the  same  time,  for  professing  Christ,  Flavia  Domitilla, 
the  niece  of  Flavius  Clemens,  one  of  the  consuls  of  Rome  at  that 
time,  was  transported  with  many  others,  by  way  of  punishment, 
to  the  island  of  Pontia. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Domitian  commands  the  posterity  of  David  to  he  slain. 

But  when  the  same  Domitian  had  issued  his  orders,  that  the 
descendants  of  David  should  be  slain  according  to  an  ancient  tra- 
dition, some  of  the  heretics  accused  the  descendants  of  Judas,  as 
the  brother  of  our  Saviour,  according  to  the  flesh,  because  they  were 
of  the  family  of  David,  and  as  such,  also,  were  related  to  Christ. 
This  is  declared  by  Hegesippus  as  follows. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Of  the  relatives  of  our  Lord. 


There  were  yet  living  of  the  family  of  our  Lord,  the  grand- 
children of  Judas,  called  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  according  to 
the  flesh.  These  were  reported  as  being  of  the  family  of  David, 
and  were  brought  to  Domitianby  theEvocatus,  For  this  emperor 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  103 

was  as  much  alarmed  at  the  appearance  of  Christ  as  Herod.  He 
put  the  question,  whether  they  were  of  David's  race,  and  they 
confessed  that  they  were.  He  then  asked  them  what  property 
they  had,  or  how  much  money  they  owned.  And  both  of  them 
answered,  that  they  had  between  them  only  nine  thousand  dena- 
rii,* and  this  they  had  not  in  silver,  but  in  the  value  of  a  piece  of 
land,  containing  only  thirty-nine  acres ;  from  which  they  raised 
their  taxes  and  supported  themselves  by  their  own  labour.  Then 
they  also  began  to  show  their  hands,  exhibiting  the  hardness 
of  their  bodies,  and  the  callosity  formed  by  incessant  labour  on 
their  hands,  as  evidence  of  their  own  labour.  When  asked 
also,  respecting  Christ  and  his  kingdom,  what  was  its  nature, 
and  when  and  where  it  was  to  appear,  they  replied,  "  that  it  was 
not  a  temporal  nor  an  earthly  kingdom,  but  celestial  and  angelic ; 
that  it  would  appear  at  the  end  of  the  world,  when  coming  in 
glory  he  would  judge  the  quick  and  dead,  and  give  to  every  one 
according  to  his  works."  Upon  which,  Domitian  despising  them, 
made  no  reply;  but  treating  them  with  contempt,  as  simpletons, 
commanded  them  to  be  dismissed,  and  by  a  decree  ordered  the 
persecution  to  cease.  Thus  delivered,  they  ruled  the  churches, 
both  as  witnesses  and  relatives  of  the  Lord.  When  peace  was 
established,  they  continued  living  even  to  the  times  of  Trajan." 
Such  is  the  statement  of  Hegesippus.  TertuUian  also  has  men- 
tioned Domitian  thus :  "  Domitian  had  also  once  attempted  the 
same  against  him,  who  was,  in  fact,  a  limb  of  Nero  for  cruelty ; 
but  I  think,  because  he  yet  had  some  remains  of  reason,  he  very 
soon  suppressed  the  persecution,  even  recalling  those  whom  he 
had  exiled.  But  after  Domitian  had  reigned  fifteen  years,  and 
Nerva  succeeded  to  the  government,  the  Roman  senate  decreed, 
that  the  honours  of  Domitian  should  be  revoked,  and  that  those 
who  had  been  unjustly  expelled,  should  return  to  their  homes,  and 
have  their  goods  restored.  This  is  the  statement  of  the  historians 
of  the  day.  It  was  then  also,  that  the  apostle  John  returned  from 
his  banishment  in  Patmos,  and  took  up  his  abode  at  Ephesus,  ac  - 
cording  to  an  ancient  tradition  of  the  church. 

*  The  Roman  denarius  was  about  the  value  of  a  Greek  drachma,  each  fifteen 
cents  nearly. 


104  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Cerdon,  the  third  bishop  of  Alexandria. 

After  Nerva  had  reigned  a  little  more  than  a  year,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Trajan,  It  was  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  that  Cer- 
don  succeeded  Avilius  in  the  church  of  Alexandria,  after  the  lat- 
ter had  governed  it  thirteen  years.  He  was  the  third  that  held 
the  episcopate  there  since  Annianus.  During  this  time,  Clement 
was  yet  bishop  of  the  Romans,  who  was  also  the  third  that  held 
the  episcopate  there  after  Paul  and  Peter ;  Linus  being  the  first 
and  Anencletus  next  in  order. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Ignatius,  the  second  bishop  of  Antioch. 

On  the  death  of  Evodius,  who  was  the  first  bishop  of  Antioch, 
Ignatius  was  appointed  the  second.  Simeon  also  was  the  second 
after  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  that  had  charge  of  the  church  at 
Jerusalem  about  this  time. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

Narrative  respecting  the  Apostle  John. 

About  this  time  also,  the  beloved  disciple  of  Jesus,  John  the 
apostle  and  evangelist,  still  surviving,  governed  the  churches  in 
Asia,  after  his  return  from  exile  on  the  island,  and  the  death  of 
Domitian.  But  that  he  was  still  living  until  this  time,  it  may  suf- 
fice to  prove,  by  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses.  These,  as  main- 
taining sound  doctrine  in  the  church,  may  surely  be  regarded  as 
worthy  of  all  credit:  and  such  were  Irenaeus  and  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria.  Of  these,  the  former,  in  the  second  book  against  heresies, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  105 

writes  in  the  following  manner :  "  And  all  the  preshy tcrs  of  Asia, 
that  had  conferred  with  John  the  disciple  of  our  Lord,  testify  that 
John  had  delivered  it  to  them ;  for  he  continued  with  them  until 
the  times  of  Trajan."  And  in  the  third  book  of  the  same  work, 
he  shows  the  same  thing  in  the  following  words :  "  But  the  church 
in  Ephesus  also,  which  had  been  founded  by  Paul,  and  where 
John  continued  to  abide  until  the  times  of  Trajan,  is  a  faithful 
witness  of  the  apostolic  tradition."  Clement  also,  indicating  the 
time,  subjoins  a  narrative  most  acceptable  to  those  who  delight  to 
hear  what  is  excellent  and  profitable,  in  that  discourse  to  which 
he  gave  the  title,  "  What  Rich  Man  is  saved  V  Taking  therefore 
the  book,  read  it  where  it  contains  a  narrative  like  the  following : 
"  Listen  to  a  story  that  is  no  fiction,  but  a  real  history,  handed 
down  and  carefully  preserved,  respecting  the  apostle  John.  For 
after  the  tyrant  was  dead,  coming  from  the  isle  of  Patmos  to 
Ephesus,  he  went  also,  when  called,  to  the  neighbouring  regions 
of  the  Gentiles;  in  some  to  appoint  bishops,  in  some  to  insti- 
tute entire  new  churches,  in  others  to  appoint  to  the  ministry 
some  one  of  those  that  were  pointed  out  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
When  he  came,  therefore,  to  one  of  those  cities,  at  no  great 
distance,  of  which  some  also  give  the  name,  and  had  in  other 
respects  consoled  his  brethren,  he  at  last  turned  towards  the 
bishop  ordained,  (appointed,)  and  seeing  a  youth  of  fine  stature, 
graceful  countenance,  and  ardent  mind,  he  said,  '  Him  I  commend 
to  you  with  all  earnestness,  in  the  presence  of  the  church  and  of 
Christ'  The  bishop  having  taken  him  and  promised  all,  he  re- 
peated and  testified  the  same  thing,  and  then  returned  to  Ephe- 
sus. The  presbyter  taking  the  youth  home  that  was  committed 
to  him,  educated,  restrained,  and  cherished  him,  and  at  length 
baptized  him.  After  this,  he  relaxed  exercising  his  former  care 
and  vigilance,  as  if  he  had  now  committed  him  to  a  perfect  safe- 
guard in  the  seal  of  the  Lord.  But  certain  idle,  dissolute  fellows, 
famihar  with  every  kind  of  wickedness,  unhappily  attach  them- 
selves to  him,  thus  prematurely  freed  from  restraint.  At  first  they 
lead  him  on  ly  expensive  entertainments.  Then  going  out  at  night 
to  plunder,  they  take  him  with  them.  Next,  they  encourage  him 
to  something  greater,  and  gradually  becoming  accustomed  to  their 

O 


106  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ways  in  his  enterprising  spirit,  like  an  unbridled  and  powerful 
steed  that  has  struck  out  of  the  right  way,  biting  the  curb,  he 
rushed  with  so  much  the  greater  impetuosity  towards  the  preci. 
pice.  At  length  renouncing  the  salvation  of  God,  he  contemplated 
no  trifling  offence,  but  having  committed  some  great  crime,  since 
he  was  now  once  ruined,  he  expected  to  suffer  equally  with  the 
rest.  Taking,  therefore,  these  same  associates,  and  forming  them 
into  a  band  of  robbers,  he  became  their  captain,  surpassing  them 
all  in  violence,  blood,  and  cruelty.  Time  elapsed,  and  on  a  cer- 
tain occasion  they  send  for  John.  The  apostle,  after  appointing 
those  other  matters  for  which  he  came,  said,  '  Come,  bishop,  return 
me  my  deposite,  which  I  and  Christ  committed  to  thee,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  church  over  which  thou  dost  preside.'  The  bishop 
at  first,  indeed,  was  confounded,  thinking  that  he  was  insidiously 
charged  for  money  which  he  had  not  received ;  and  yet  he  could 
neither  give  credit  respecting  that  which  he  had  not,  nor  yet  dis- 
believe John.  But  when  he  said,  '  I  demand  the  young  mtm,  and 
the  soul  of  a  brother,'  the  old  man,  groaning  heavily  and  also 
•weeping,  said,  '  He  is  dead.'  '  How,  and  what  death  V  '  He  is 
dead  to  God,'  said  he.  '  He  has  turned  out  wicked  and  abandonea, 
and  at  last  a  robber ;  and  now,  instead  of  the  church,  he  has  be- 
set the  mountain  with  a  band  like  himself.'  The  apostle,  on 
hearing  this,  tore  his  garment,  and  beating  his  head  with  great 
lamentation,  said,  '  I  left  a  fine  keeper  of  a  brother's  soul !  But 
let  a  horse  now  be  got  ready,  and  some  one  to  guide  me  on  my 
way.'  He  rode  as  he  was,  away  from  the  church,  and  coming  to 
the  country,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  outguard  of  the  banditti. 
He  neither  attempted,  however,  to  flee,  nor  refused  to  be  taken ; 
but  cried  out,  '  For  this  very  purpose  am  I  come ;  conduct  me  to 
your  captain.'  He,  in  the  meantime  stood  waiting,  armed  as  he  was. 
But  as  he  recognised  John  advancing  towards  l)im,  overcome  with 
shame  he  turned  about  to  flee.  The  apostle,  however,  pursued  him 
with  all  his  might,  forgetful  of  his  age,  and  crying  out,  '  Why  dost 
thou  fly,  my  son,  from  me,  thy  father ;  thy  defenceless,  aged  father? 
Have  compassion  on  me,  my  son ;  fear  not.  Thou  still  hast  hope  of 
life.  I  will  intercede  with  Christ  for  thee.  Should  it  be  necessary, 
I  will  cheerfully  suffer  death  for  thee,  as  Ciirist  for  us.  1  will  give 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  107 

my  life  for  thine.  Stay ;  believe  Christ  hath  sent  me.'  Hearing  this, 
he  at  first  stopped  with  downcast  looks.  Then  threw  away  his 
arms ;  then  trembUng,  lamented  bitterly,  and  embracing  the  old 
man  as  he  came  up,  attempted  to  plead  for  himself  with  his  la- 
mentations, as  much  as  he  was  able  ;  as  if  baptized  a  second  time 
with  his  own  tears,  and  only  concealing  his  right  hand.  But  the 
apostle  pledging  himself,  and  solemnly  assuring  him,  that  he  had 
found  pardon  for  him  in  his  prayers  at  the  hands  of  Christ,  pray- 
ing, on  his  bended  knees,  and  kissing  his  right  hand  as  cleansed 
from  all  iniquity,  conducted  him  back  again  to  the  church.  Then 
supplicating  with  frequent  prayers,  contending  with  constant 
fastings,  and  softening  down  his  mind  with  various  consolatory 
declarations,  he  did  not  leave  him  as  it  is  said,  until  he  had  re- 
stored him  to  the  church.  Affording  a  powerful  example  of  true 
repentance,  and  a  great  evidence  of  a  regeneration,  a  trophy  of 
a  visible  resurrection." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  order  of  the  Gospels. 

These  extracts  from  Clement  may  here  suffice,  both  for  the 
sake  of  the  history  and  the  benefit  of  the  readers.  Let  us  now 
also  show  the  undisputed  writings  of  the  same  apostle.  And  of 
these  his  gospel,  so  well  known  in  the  churches  throughout  the 
world,  must  first  of  all  be  acknowledged  as  genuine.  That  it  is, 
however,  with  good  reason,  placed  the  fourth  in  order  by  the 
ancients,  may  be  made  evident  in  the  following  manner.  Those 
inspired  and  truly  pious  men,  the  apostles  of  our  Saviour,  as  they 
were  most  pure  in  their  life,  and  adorned  with  every  kind  of  vir- 
tue in  their  minds,  but  common  in  their  language,  relying  upon 
the  divine  and  wonderful  energy  granted  them,  they  neither 
knew  how,  nor  attempted  to  propound  the  doctrines  of  their  mas- 
ter, w^ith  the  art  and  refinement  of  composition.  But  employing 
only  the  demonstration  of  the  divine  Spirit,  working  with  them, 
and  the  wonder-working  power  of  Christ,  displayed  through 
12 


108  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ihem,  they  proclaimed  the  knowledge  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
throughout  the  world.  They  bestowed  but  httle  care  upon  the 
►  study  of  style,  and  this  they  did,  because  they  were  aided  by  a 
co-operation  greater  than  that  of  men.  Paul,  indeed,  who  was 
the  most  able  of  all  in  the  preparations  of  style,  and  who  was 
most  powerful  in  sentiments,  committed  nothing  more  to  writing 
than  a  few  very  short  epistles.  And  this  too,  although  he  had 
innumerable  mysterious  matters  that  he  might  have  communi- 
cated, as  he  had  attained  even  to  tiie  view  of  the  third  heavens, 
had  been  taken  up  to  the  very  paradise  of  God,  and  had  been 
honoured  to  hear  the  unutterable  words  there.  The  other  fol- 
lowers of  our  Lord  were  also  not  ignorant  of  such  things,  as  the 
twelve  apostles,  and  the  seventy,  together  with  many  others ;  yet 
of  all  the  disciples,  Matthevv'-  and  John  are  the  only  ones  that  have 
left  us  recorded  comments,  and  even  they,  tradition  says,  under- 
took it  from  necessity.  Matthew  also  having  first  proclaimed  the 
gospel  in  Hebrew,  when  on  the  point  of  going  also  to  other  na- 
tions, committed  it  to  writing  in  his  native  tongue,  and  thus  sup- 
plied the  want  of  his  presence  to  them,  by  his  writings.  But 
after  Mark  and  Luke  had  already  published  their  gospels,  they 
say,  that  John,  who  during  all  this  time  was  proclaiming  the  gos- 
pel without  writing,  at  length  proceeded  to  write  it  on  the  fol- 
lowing occasion.  The  three  gospels  previously  written,  having 
been  distributed  among  all,  and  also  handed  to  him,  they  say 
that  he  admitted  them,  giving  his  testimony  to  their  truth  ;  but  that 
there  was  only  wanting  in  the  narrative  the  account  of  the  things 
done  by  .Christ,  among  the  first  of  his  deeds,  and  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  gospel.  And  this  was  the  truth.  For  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  other  three  evangelists  only  wrote  the  deeds  of  our 
Lord  for  one  year  after  the  imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  intimated  this  in  the  very  beginning  of  their  history.  For 
after  the  fasting  of  forty  days,  and  the  consequent  temptation, 
Matthew  indeed  specifies  the  time  of  his  history,  in  these  words: 
"  But  hearing  that  John  was  delivered  up,  he  returned  from  Judea 
into  Galilee."  Mark  in  like  manner  writes :  "  But  after  John  was 
delivered  up,  Jesus  came  into  Galilee  ?"  And  Luke,  before  he  com- 
menced tlie  c'<;eds  of  Jesus,  in  much  the  same  way  designates  the 


4 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.      .  109 

time  saying,  *'  Herod  thus  added,  yet  this  wickedness  above  all 
he  had  committed,  and  that  he  shut  up  John  in  prison."  For  these 
reasons  the  apostle  John,  it  is  said,  being  entreated  to  undertake 
it,  wrote  the  account  of  the  time  not  recorded  by  the  former 
evangelists,  and  the  deeds  done  by  our  Saviour,  which  they  have 
passed  by,  (for  these  were  the  events  that  occurred  before  the 
imprisonment  of  John,)  and  this  very  fact  is  intimated  by  him, 
when  he  says,  "this  beginning  of  miracles  Jesus  made;"  and  then 
proceeds  to  make  mention  of  the  Baptist,  in  the  midst  of  our 
Lord's  deeds,  as  John  was  at  that  time  "  baptising  at  Mnon  near 
Salim."  He  plainly  also  shows  this  in  the  words :  "  John  was 
not  yet  cast  into  prison."  The  apostle,  therefore,  in  his  gospel, 
gives  the  deeds  of  Jesus  before  the  Baptist  was  cast  -into  prison, 
but  the  other  three  evangelists  mention  the  circumstances  after 
that  event.  One  who  attends  to  these  circumstances,  can  no 
longer  entertain  the  opinion,  that  the  gospels  are  at  variance  with 
each  other,  as  the  gospel  of  John  comprehends  the  first  events  of 
Christ,  but  the  others,  the  history  that  took  place  at  the  latter 
part  of  the  time.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  tliat  for  these  reasons 
John  has  passed  by  in  silence  the  genealogy  of  our  Lord,  be- 
cause it  was  written  by  Matthew  and  Luke,  but  that  he  com- 
menced with  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity,  as  a  part  reserved  for 
him,  by  the  divine  Spirit,  as  if  for  a  superior.  Let  this  suffice  to 
be  said  respecting  the  gospel  of  John.  The  causes  that  induced 
Mark  to  write  his,  have  already  been  stated.  But  Luke  also  in 
the  commencement  of  his  narrative,  premises  the  cause  which 
led  him  to  write,  showing  that  many  others,  having  rashly  un- 
dertaken to  compose  a  narration  of  matters  that  he  had  already 
completely  ascertained,  in  order  to  free  us  from  the  uncertain 
suppositions  of  others,  in  his  own  gospel,  he  delivered  the  cer- 
tain account  of  those  things,  that  he  himself  had  fully  received 
from  his  intimacy  and  stay  with  Paul,  and  also,  his  intercourse 
with  the  other  apostles.  But  this  may  suffice  respecting  these. 
At  a  more  proper  time  we  shall  endeavour  also  to  state,  by  a  re- 
ference to  some  of  the  ancient  writers,  what  others  have  said 
respecting  the  sacred  books.  But  besides  the  gospel  of  John,  iiis 
first  epistle  is  acknowledged  without  dispute,  both  by  those  of  tha 


110  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

present  day,  and  also  by  the  ancients.  The  other  two  epistles, 
however,  are  disputed.  The  opinions  respecting  the  revelation 
are  still  greatly  divided.  But  we  shall,  in  due  time,  give  a  judg- 
ment on  this  point,  also  from  the  testimony  of  the  ancients. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


The  sacred  Scriptures  acknowledged  as  genuine,  and  those  that 
are  not. 

This  appears  also  to  be  the  proper  place,  to  give  a  summary 
statement  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  already  mentioned. 
And  here,  among  the  first,  must  be  placed  the  holy  quaternion 
of  the  gospels ;  these  are  followed  by  "  The  book  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles ;"  after  this  must  be  mentioned  the  epistles  of  Paul, 
which  are  followed  by  the  acknowledged  first  Epistle  of  John,  as 
also  the  first  of  Peter,  to  be  admitted  in  like  manner.  After  these, 
are  to  be  placed,  if  proper,  the  Revelation  of  John,  concern- 
ing which  we  shall  offer  the  different  opinions  in  due  time. 
These,  then,  are  acknowledged  as  genuine.  Among  the  dis- 
puted books,  although  they  are  well  known  and  approved  by 
many,  is  reputed,  that  called  the  Epistle  of  James  and  Jude.  Also 
the  "  Second  Epistle  of  Peter,"  and  those  called  "  The  Second  and 
Third  of  John,"  whether  they  are  of  the  evangelist  or  of  some 
other  of  the  same  name.  Among  the  spurious  must  be  num- 
bered, both  the  books  called  "  The  Acts  of  Paul,"  and  that 
called  "  Pastor,"  and  "  The  Revelation  of  Peter."  Beside  these, 
the  books  called  "  The  Epistle  of  Barnabas,"  and  what  are 
called  "  The  Institutions  of  the  Apostles."  Moreover,  as  I  said 
before,  if  it  should  appear  right,  "  The  Revelation  of  John," 
which  some,  as  before  said,  reject,  but  others  rank  among  the 
genuine.  But  there  are  also  some  who  number  among  these, 
the  gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews,  with  which  those  of  the 
Hebrews  that  have  received  Christ  are  particularly  delighted 
These  may  be  said  to  be  all  concerning  which  there  is  any  dis- 
pute. We  have,  however,  necessarily  subjoined  here  a  catalogue 


* 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  Ill 

of  these  also,  in  order  to  distinguish  those  that  are  true,  genuine, 
and  well  authenticated  writings,  from  those  others  which  are 
not  only  not  imbodied  in  the  canon,  but  likewise  disputed,  notwith- 
standing that  they  are  recognized  by  most  ecclesiastical  writers. 
Thus  we  may  have  it  in  our  power  to  know  both  these  books, 
and  those  that  are  adduced  by  the  heretics  under  the  name  of 
the  apostles,  such,  viz.,  as  compose  the  gospels  of  Peter,  Thomas, 
and  Matthew,  and  others  beside  them,  or  such  as  contain  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  by  Andrew,  and  John,  and  others,  of 
which  no  one  of  those  writers  in  the  ecclesiastical  succession 
has  condescended  to  make  any  mention  in  his  works ;  and  indeed, 
the  character  of  the  style  itself  is  very  different  from  that  of  the 
apostles,  and  the  sentiments,  and  the  purport  of  those  things  that 
are  advanced  in  them,  deviating  as  far  as  possible  from  sound  or- 
thodoxy, evidently  proves  they  are  the  fictions  of  heretical  men ; 
whence  they  are  to  be  ranked  not  only  among  the  spurious  wri- 
tings, but  are  to  be  i-ejected  as  altogether  absurd  and  impious. 
Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  continuation  of  our  history. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Menander  the  impostor. 


Menander,  who  succeeded  Simon  Magus,  exhibited  himself  in 
his  conduct  an  instrument  of  diabolical  wickedness,  not  inferior 
to  the  former.  He  also,  was  a  Samaritan,  and  having  made 
no  less  progress  in  his  impostures  than  his  master,  revelled  in 
still  more  arrogant  pretensions  to  miracles  ;  saying  that  he  was 
in  truth  the  Saviour,  once  sent  from  the  invisible  worlds  for  the 
salvation  of  men ;  teaching  also,  that  no  one  could  overcome 
even  the  very  angels  that  formed  the  heavens  in  any  other  way, 
than  by  being  first  initiated  into  the  magic  discipline  imparted  by 
him,  and  by  the  baptism  conferred  by  him  for  this  purpose.  Of 
which,  those  who  were  deemed  worthy  would  obtain  perpetual 
immortality  in  this  very  life,  being  no  more  subject  to  death,  but 
continuing  here  the  same,  would  be  exempt  from  old  age,  and  be 
12* 


112  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

in  fact  immortal.  This  account  may  bo  easily  confirmed  from 
Irenseus ;  but  Justin,  in  the  same  place  where  he  mentions 
Simeon,  also  adds  the  narrative  respecting  this  one  as  follows : 
"  But  we  know  that  Menander  who  was  a  Samaritan  of  the 
village  Caparattffia,  becoming  a  disciple  of  Simeon,  and  hkewise 
stimulated  by  the  daemons,  came  to  Antioch,  and  deceived  many 
by  his  magic  arts.  He  persuaded  those  that  followed  him,  that 
they  should  never  die.  And  there  are  now  some  of  his  followers 
that  make  a  profession  of  the  same  thing.  It  was  indeed,  a 
diabolical  artifice,  by  means  of  such  impostors  assuming  the  title 
of  Christians,  to  evince  so  much  zeal  in  defaming  the  great 
mystery  of  piety  by  magic  arts,  and  to  rend  asunder  by  these 
means  the  doctrines  of  the  church  respecting  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Those,  however,  who 
called  these  their  Saviours,  fell  away  from  solid  hope. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Heresy  of  the  Ehionites. 


The  spirit  of  wickedness,  however,  being  unable  to  shake  some 
in  their  love  of  Christ,  and  yet  finding  them  susceptible  of  his 
impressions  in  other  respects,  brought  them  over  to  his  purposes. 
These  are  properly  called  Ebionites  *  by  the  ancients,  as  those 
who  cherished  low  and  mean  opinions  of  Christ.  For  they  con- 
sidered him  a  plain  and  common  man,  and  justified  only  by  his 
advances  in  virtue,  and  that  he  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
by  natural  generation.  With  them  the  observance  of  the  law 
was  altogether  necessary,  as  if  they  could  not  be  saved,  only  by 
faith  in  Christ  and  a  corresponding  life.  Others,  however,  be- 
sides these,  but  of  the  same  name,  indeed  avoided  the  absurdity 
of  the  opinions  maintained  by  the  former,  not  denying  that  the 
Lord  was  born  of  the  Virgin  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  yet  in  like 

•  The  word  ebion,  in  Hebrew,  signifying  poor,  seems  to  allude  either  to  the 
opinions  or  the  condition  of  this  sect. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  113 

manner,  not  acknowledging  his  pre-existence,  though  he  was 
God,  the  word  and  wisdom,  they  turned  aside  into  the  same  irre- 
Hgion,  as  with  the  former  they  evinced  gi'eat  zeal  to  observe  the 
ritual  service  of  the  law.  These,  indeed,  thought  on  the  one  hand 
that  all  the  epistles  of  the  apostles  ought  to  be  rejected,  calling 
him  an  apostate  from  the  law,  but  on  the  other,  only  using  the 
gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews,  they  esteem  the  others  as  of 
but  little  value.  They  also  observe  the  Sabbath  and  other  dis- 
cipline of  the  Jews,  just  like  them,  but  on  the  other  hand,  they 
also  celebrate  the  Lord's  days  very  much  like  us,  in  commemo- 
ration of  his  resurrection.  Whence,  in  consequence  of  such  a 
course,  they  have  also  received  their  epithet,  the  name  of  Ebion- 
ites,  exhibiting  the  poverty  of  their  intellect.  For  it  is  thus  that 
the  Hebrews  call  a  poor  man. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Cerinthus  the  Heresiarch. 


About  the  same  time,  we  have  understood,  appeared  Cerin- 
thus, the  leader  of  another  heresy.  Caius,  whose  words  we 
quoted  above,  in  "  The  Disputation"  attributed  to  him,  writes 
thus  respecting  him  :  "  But  Cerinthus,  by  means  of  revelations 
which  he  pretended  were  written  by  a  great  apostle,  also  false- 
ly pretended  to  wonderful  things,  as  if  they  were  showed  him 
by  angels,  asserting,  that  after  the  resurrection  there  would 
be  an  earthly  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  that  the  flesh,  i.  e.  men, 
again  inhabiting  Jerusalem,  would  be  subject  to  desires  and  plea- 
sures. Being  also  an  enemy  to  the  divine  Scriptures,  with  a 
view  to  deceive  men,  he  said  that  there  would  be  a  space  of  a 
thousand  years  for  celebrating  nuptial  festivals."  Dionysius 
also,  who  obtained  the  episcopate  of  Alexandria  in  our  day,  in 
the  second  book  "  On  Promises,"  where  he  says  some  things  as 
if  received  by  ancient  tradition,  makes  mention  of  the  same  man, 
in  these  words  :  "  But  it  is  highly  probable  that  Cerinthus,  the 
same  that  estabUshed  the  heresy  that  bears  his  name,  designedly 
P 


114  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

affixed  the  name  (of  John)  to  his  own  forgery.  For  one  of  the 
doctrines  that  he  taught  was,  that  Christ  would  have  an  earthly 
kingdom.  And  as  he  was  a  voluptuary,  and  altogether  sen- 
sual, he  conjectured  that  it  would  consist  in  those  things  that  he 
craved  in  the  gratification  of  appetite  and  lust ;  i.  e.  in  eating, 
drinking,  and  marrying,  or  in  such  things  whereby  he  supposed 
these  sensual  pleasures  might  be  presented  in  more  decent  ex- 
pressions ;  viz.  in  festivals,  sacrifices,  aixl  the  slaying  of  victims." 
Thus  far  Dionysius.  But  Irenasus,  in  his  first  book  against  here- 
sies, adds  certain  false  doctrines  of  the  man,  though  kept  more 
secret,  and  gives  a  history  in  his  third  book,  that  deserves  to  be 
recorded,  as  received  by  tradition  from  Poly  carp.  He  says  that 
John  the  apostle  once  entered  a  bath  to  wash ;  but  ascertaining 
Cerinthus  was  withiii,  he  leaped  out  of  the  place,  and  fled  from 
the  door,  not  enduring  to  enter  under  the  same  roof  with  him, 
and  exhorted  those  with  him  to  do  the  same,  saying,  "  let  us  flee, 
lest  the  bath  fall  in,  as  long  as  Cerinthus,  that  enemy  of  the  truth, 
is  within." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Nicolaus  and  his  followers. 


About  this  time,  also,  for  a  very  short  time,  arose  the  heresy 
of  those  sailed  Nicolaites,  of  which  also  mention  is  made  in  the 
revelation  of  John.  These  boasted  of  Nicolaus  as  their  founder, 
one  of  those  deacons  who  with  Stephen  were  appointed  by  the 
apostles  to  minister  unto  the  poor.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  the 
third  book  of  his  Stromata,  relates  t!ie  following  respecting  him, 
"  Having  a  beautiful  wife,  and  being  reproached  after  the  ascen- 
sion of  our  Lord,  with  jealousy  by  the  apostles,  he  conducted  her 
into  the  midst  of  them,  and  permitted  any  one  that  wished  to 
marry  her.  This  they  say  was  perfectly  consistent  with  that 
expression  of  his,  "  that  every  one  ought  to  abuse  his  own 
flesh."     And  thus  those  that  adopted  his  heresy,  ibllowing  both 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  115 

this  example  and  expression  literally,  rush  headlong  into  fornica- 
tion  without  shame.  I  have  ascertained,  however,  that  Nicolaus 
lived  with  no  other  woman  than  the  one  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried, but  that  his  daughters  continued  in  the  state  of  virginity 
to  advanced  life;  that  his  son  also  remained  uncorrupt.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  from  these  facts,  that  the  introduction 
of  his  wife  into  the  midst  of  the  apostles,  on  account  of  jealousy, 
was  rather  the  suppression  of  passion.  And,  therefore,  abstinence 
from  those  pleasures  that  are  so  eagerly  pursued,  was  inculcated 
by  the  expression,  '  we  ought  to  abuse  the  flesh.'  For  I  do  not 
think,  that  according  to  the  saying  of  our  Lord,  he  wished  to 
serve  two  masters,  the  flesh  and  the  Lord.  They  indeed  say 
that  Matthew  thus  taught  to  fight  against  and  to  abuse  the  flesh, 
not  to  give  way  to  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  pleasure,  and  to  cul- 
tivate the  spirit  by  faith  and  knowledge."  But  it  may  suffice  to 
have  said  thus  much  concerning  those  who  have  attempted  to 
mutilate  the  truth,  and  which  again  became  extinct,  sooner  than 
said. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

7726  apostles  that  lived  in  marriage, 

Clement  indeed,  whose  words  we  have  just  cited,  after  the 
above  mentioned  facts,  next  gives  a  statement  of  those  apostles 
that  continued  in  the  marriage  state,  on  account  of  those  who  set 
marriage  aside.  "  And  will  they,"  says  he,  "  reject  even  the  apos- 
tles !  Peter  and  Philip,  indeed,  had  children,  Philip,  also  gave  his 
daughters  in  marriage  to  husbands,  and  Paul  does  not  demur  in 
a  certain  epistle  to  mention  his  own  wife,  whom  he  did  not  take 
about  with  him,  in  order  to  expedite  his  ministry  the  better." 
Since  however,  we  have  mentioned  these,  we  shall  not  regret  to 
subjoin  another  history  worthy  of  record,  from  the  same  author, 
continued  in  the  seventh  book  of  the  same  work,  Strom ateus. 
"  They  relate,"  says  he,  "  that  the  blessed  Peter,  seeing  his  own 
wife  led  away  to  •execution,  was  delighted,  on   account  of  her 


116  ECCLESIASTICAL  HJSTORY. 

calling  and  return  to  her  country,  and  that  he  cried  to  her  in  a 
consolatory  and  encouraging  voice,  addressing  her  by  name: 
"Oh  thou,  remember  the  Lord  !"  Such  was  the  marriage  of  these 
blessed  ones,  and  such  was  their  perfect  affection  towards  their 
dearest  friend^^  and  this  account  we  have  given  in  its  proper 
place,  as  well  adapted  to  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  death  of  John  and  Philip. 


The  time  and  manner  of  the  death  of  Paul  and  Peter,  and 
also  the  place  where  their  bodies  were  interred  after  their  de- 
parture from  this  life,  has  already  been  stated  by  us.  The  time 
when  John  died,  has  also,  in  some  measure,  been  mentioned,  but 
the  place  of  his  burial  is  shown  from  the  epistle  of  Polycrates, 
who  was  bishop  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  which  epistle  he  wrote 
to  Victor,  bishop  of  Rome,  and  at  the  same  time  makes  mention  of 
him  ^ohn)  and  the  apostle  Philip,  and  his  daughters,  thus :  "  For 
in  Asia,  also,  mighty  luminaries  have  fallen  asleep,  which  shall 
rise  again  at  the  last  day,  at  the  appearance  of  the  Lord,  when 
he  shall  come  with  glory  from  heaven,  and  shall  gather  again  all 
the  saints.  Philip,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles  who  sleeps  in  Hie- 
rapolis,  and  his  two  aged  virgin  daughters.  Another  of  his  daugh- 
ters, who  lived  in  the  .holy  Spirit,  rests  at  Ephesus.  Moreover, 
John,  that  rested  on  the  bosom  of  our  Lord,  who  was  a  priest 
that  bore  the  sacerdotal  plate,  and  martyr  and  teacher,  he,  also, 
rests  at  Ephesus."  This  may  suffice  as  to  their  death  ;  and  in  the 
dialogue  of  Caius,  which  we  mentioned  a  little  before,  Proclus, 
against  whom  he  wrote  his  disputation,  coinciding  with  what  we 
have  already  advanced  concerning  the  death  of  Philip  and  his 
daughters,  speaks  thus :  "  After  this  there  were  four  prophetesses 
the  daughters  of  Philip  at  Hierapolis  in  Asia,  whose  tomb,  and 
that  of  their  father,  are  to  be  seen  there."  Such  is  his  statement. 
But  Luke,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  mentions  the  daughters  of 
Philip,  tarrying  in  Cesarea  of  Judca,  and  as  endued  with  the  gift 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  117 

of  prophecy,  in  these  words :  "  We  came  to  Cesarea,  and  having 
entered  the  house  of  Phihp  the  evangelist,  one  of  the  seven,  we 
abode  with  him.  But  he  had  four  virgin  daughters  that  prophe- 
sied." But  as  we  have  thus  set  forth  what  has  come  to  our 
knowledge  respecting  the  apostles  and  the  apostolical  times,  as 
also  respecting  the  sacred  books  that  they  have  left  us,  both  the 
disputed  writings,  though  publicly  used  by  many  in  most  of  the 
churches,  and  those  that  are  altogether  spurious,  and  far  removed 
from  the  correct  doctrme  of  the  apostles,  let  us  now  proceed  to 
our  history  in  order. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  martyrdom  of  Simeon,  bishop  of  Jerusalem. 

After  Nero  and  Domitian,  we  have  also  been  informed,  that 
in  the  reign  of  the  emperor,  whose  times  we  are  now  recording, 
there  was  a  partial  persecution  excited  throughout  the  cities,  in 
consequence  of  a  popular  insurrection.  In  this  we  have  under- 
stood, also,  that  Simeon  died  as  a  martyr,  who,  we  have  shown, 
was  appointed  the  second  bishop  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  To 
this  the  same  Hegesippus  bears  testimony,  whose  words  we  have 
already  so  often  quoted.  This  author,  speaking  of  certain  heretics, 
superadds,  that  Simeon  indeed,  about  this  time  having  borne  the 
accusation  of  Christian,  although  he  was  tortured  for  several  days, 
and  astonished  both  the  judge  and  his  attendants  in  the  highest 
degree,  terminated  his  life  with  sufferings  like  those  of  our  Lord. 
But  it  is  best  to  hear  the  writer  himself,  who  gives  the  account 
as  follows :  "  Of  these  heretics,"  says  he,  "  some  reported  Simeon 
the  son  of  Cleophas,  as  a  descendant  of  David,  and  a  Christian;  and 
thus  he  suffered  as  a  martyr,  when  he  was  an  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old,  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Trajan,  and  the  presidency  of 
the  consular  Atticus.  The  same  author  says,  that  as  search 
was  made  for  the  Jews  that  were  of  the  tribe  of  David,  his  ac- 
cusers, as  if  they  were  descended  from  this  family,  were  taken  in 
custody.     One   might   reasonably   assert  that  this  Simeon  was 


118  ECCI,ESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

among  the  witnesses  that  bore  testimony  to  what  they  had  both 
heard  and  seen  of  our  Lord,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  length  of 
his  life,  and  the  fact  that  the  gospels  make  mention  of  Mary  the 
daughter  of  Cleophas,  whose  son  Simeon  was,  as  we  have  already 
shown.  But  the  same  historian  says,  that  there  were  others,  the 
offspring  of  one  of  those  considered  brothers  of  the  Lord,  whose 
name  was  Judas,  and  that  these  lived  until  the  same  reign  after 
their  profession  of  Christ,  and  the  testimony  under  Domitian 
beforementioned.  He  writes  thus :  "  There  are  also,  those  that 
take  the  lead  of  the  whole  church  as  martyrs,  even  the  kindred 
of  our  Lord.  And  when  profound  peace  was  established  through- 
out the  church,  they  continued  to  the  days  of  the  emperor  Tra- 
jan, until  the  time  that  the  abovementioned  Simeon,  the  relative 
of  our  Lord,  being  the  son  of  Cleophas,  was  waylaid  by  the 
heresies,  and  also  himself  accused  for  the  same  cause,  under  At- 
ticus,  who  was  of  similar  dignity.  After  he  was  tormented  many 
days,  he  died  a  martyr,  with  such  firmness,  that  all  were  amazed, 
even  the  president  himself,  that  a  man  of  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years  should  bear  such  tortures.  He  was  at  last  ordered  to  be 
crucified."  The  same  author,  relating  the  events  of  the  times, 
also  says,  that  the  church  continued  until  then  as  a  pure  and  un- 
corrupt  virgin ;  whilst  if  there  were  any  at  all,  that  attempted 
to  pervert  the  sound  doctrine  of  the  saving  gospel,  they  were  yet 
skulking  in  dark  retreats ;  but  when  the  sacred  choir  of  apostles 
became  extinct,  and  the  generation  of  those  that  had  been  pri- 
vileged to  hear  their  inspired  wisdom,  had  passed  away,  then  also 
the  combinations  of  impious  error  arose  by  the  fraud  and  delu- 
sions of  false  teachers.  These  also,  as  there  was  none  of  the 
apostles  left,  henceforth  attempted,  without  shame,  to  preach 
their  false  doctrine  against  the  gospel  of  truth.  Such  is  the 
statement  of  Hegesippus.   Let  us,  however,  proceed  in  our  history. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  119 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

Trajan  forbids  the  Christians  to  he  sought  after. 

So  great  a  persecution  was  then  commenced  against  our  faith, 
m  most  places,  that  Plinius  Secundus,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
governors,  moved  by  the  number  of  martyrs,  communicated  with 
the  emperor  respecting  the  multitudes  that  were  put  to  death  for 
their  faith.  At  the  same  time  he  informed  him,  that  as  far  as  he 
had  ascertained,  they  did  nothing  wicked  or  contrary  to  the  laws ; 
except  that  they  rose  with  the  morning  sun,  and  sang  a  hymn  to 
Christ  as  to  a  god.  But  that  adultery,  and  murder,  and  criminal 
excesses  like  these,  were  totally  abhorred  by  them ;  and  that  in 
all  things  they  acted  according  to  the  laws.  To  this,  Trajan  in 
reply,  issued  a  decree,  the  purport  of  which  was,  that  no  search 
should  be  made  after  those  that  were  Christians,  but  when  they 
presented  themselves  they  should  be  punished.  On  this,  the  per- 
secution in  some  measure  seemed  abated,  in  its  extreme  violence, 
but  there  were  no  less  pretexts  left  for  those  that  wished  to  ha- 
rass us.  Sometimes  the  people,  sometimes  the  rulers  of  different 
places,  would  waylay  us  to  ensnare  us.  So  that  without  an  obvi- 
ous persecution,  there  were  partial  persecutions  in  the  provinces, 
and  many  of  the  faithful  endured  martyrdoms  of  various  kinds. 
We  have  taken  the  account  from  the  Apology  of  Tertullian,  in 
Latin,  mentioned  above,  of  which,  the  translation  is  as  follows : 
"  And  indeed,"  says  he,  "  we  have  found  that  the  inquisition  against 
us  is  prohibited.  For  Plinius  Secundus,  who  was  governor  of  the 
province,  having  condemned  certain  Christians,  and  deprived  them 
of  their  dignity,  was  confounded  by  the  great  number,  and  in  doubt 
what  course  he  should  pursue.  He  communicated,  therefore,  the 
fact  to  Trajan  the  emperor,  saying,  that  with  the  exception  they 
were  not  willing  to  sacrifice,  he  found  nothing  criminal  in  them. 
He  stated  also  this,  that  the  Christians  arose  with  the  sun,  and 
sang  to  Christ  as  to  a  god ;  and  that  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
their  discipline,  they  prohibited  adultery,  murder,  overreaching, 
fraud,  and  all  crimes  like  them.     To  this,  Trajan  wrote  in  reply, 


120  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

that  the  Qiristians  should  not  be  inquired  after,  but  when  they 
presented  themselves  they  should  be  punished."  And  such  were 
the  circumstances  attending  these  events. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Euarestus,  the  fourth  bishop  of  the  church  at 

In  the  third  year  of  the  abovementioned  reign,  Clement,  bishop 
of  Rome,  committed  the  episcopal  charge  to  Euarestus,  and  de- 
parted this  life,  after  superintending  the  preaching  of  the  divine 
word  nine  years. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Justus,  the  third  bishop  of  Jerusalem. 

Simeon  also  having  died  in  the  manner  shown  above,  a  certain 
Jew  named  Justus  succeeded  him  in  the  episcopate  of  Jerusalem. 
As  there  were  great  numbers  from  the  circumcision,  that  came 
over  to  the  Cliristian  faith  at  that  time,  of  whom  Justus  was  one. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  epistles  of  Ignatius. 

About  this  time  flourished  Polycarp  in  Asia,  an  intimate  disci- 
ple of  the  apostles,  \vho  received  the  episcopate  of  the  church  at 
Smyrna,  at  the  hands  of  the  eyewitnesses  and  servants  of  the 
Lord.  At  this  time,  also,  Papias  was  well  known  as  bishop  of  the 
church  at  Hierapolis,  a  man  v^'ell  skilled  in  all  manner  of  learning, 
and  well  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures.  Ignatius,  also,  who  is 
celebrated  by  many  even  to  this  day,  as  the  successor  of  Peter  at 
Antioch,  was  the  second  that  obtained  the  episcopal  office  there. 
Tradition  says  that  he  was  sent  away  from  Syria  to  Rome,  and 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  121 

was  cast  as  food  to  wild  beasts,  on  account  of  his  testimony  to 
Christ.  And  being  carried  through  Asia  under  a  most  rigid  cus- 
tody, fortified  the  different  churches  m  the  cities  were  he  tarried, 
by  his  discourses  and  exliortations ;  particularly  to  caution  them 
more  against  the  heresies  which  even  then  were  springing  up  and 
prevailing.  He  exhorted  them  to  adhere  firmly  to  the  tradition  of 
the  apostles ;  which,  for  the  sake  of  greater  security,  he  deemed  it 
necessary  to  attest  by  committing  it  to  writing.  When,  therefore, 
he  came  to  Smyrna,  where  Poly  carp  was,  he  wrote  one  epistle, 
viz.  that  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  in  which  he  mentions  its  pas- 
tor Onesimus.  Another,  also,  to  the  church  in  Magnesia,  which  is 
situated  on  the  Meander,  in  which  again  he  makes  mention  of 
Damas  the  bishop.  Another,  also,  to  the  church  of  the  Trallians, 
of  which  he  states  that  Polybius  was  then  bishop.  To  these  must 
be  added,  the  epistle  to  the  church  at  Rome,  which  also  contains 
an  exhortation,  not  to  disappoint  him  in  his  ardent  hope,  by  re- 
fusing to  endure  martyrdom.  Of  these,  it  is  worth  while  also  to 
subjoin  very  short  extracts,  by  way  of  specimen.  He  writes, 
therefore,  in  the  following  manner :  "  From  Syria  to  Rome,  I 
am  contending  with  wild  beasts  by  land  and  sea,  by  night  and 
day,  being  tied  to  ten  leopards,  the  number  of  the  military  band, 
who,  even  when  treated  with  kindness,  only  behave  with  greater 
ferocity.  But  in  the  midst  of  these  iniquities,  I  am  learning.  Yet 
I  am  not  justified  on  this  account.  May  I  be  benefited  by  those 
beasts  that  are  in  readiness  for  me,  which  I  also  pray  may  be 
quickly  found  for  me,  which  also  I  shall  entice  and  flatter  to  de- 
vour me  quickly,  and  not  to  be  afraid  of  me  as  of  some  whom  they 
did  not  touch.  But,  should  they  perchance  be  unwilling,  I  will 
force  them.  Pardon  me ;  I  know  what  advantage  it  will  confer. 
Now  I  begin  to  be  a  disciple.  Nothing,  whether  of  things  visible 
or  invisible,  excites  my  ambition,  as  long  as  I  can  gain  Christ. 
Whether  fire,  or  the  cross,  the  assault  of  wild  beasts,  the  tearing 
asunder  of  my  bones,  the  breaking  of  my  limbs,  the  bruising  of 
my  whole  body,  let  the  tortures  of  the  devil  all  assail  me,  if  I  do 
but  gain  Christ  Jesus."  This  he  wrote  from  the  abovementioned 
city  to  the  aforesaid  churches.  But  after  he  had  left  Smyrna, 
he  wrote  an  exhortation  from  Troas  to  those  in  Philadelphia,  and 

a 


122  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

particularly  to  Poljcarp,  who  was  bishop  there;  whom  he 
designates  as  an  apostolical  man  and  as  a  good  and  faithful 
shepherd,  commends  the  flock  of  Antioch  to  him,  requesting  him 
to  exercise  a  diligent  oversight  of  the  church.  Writing  to  the 
Smyrnians,  he  has  also  employed  words  respecting  Jesus,  I  know 
not  whence  they  are  taken,  to  the  following  effect.  "  But  I  know 
and  believe  that  he  was  seen  after  the  resurrection,  and  that  he 
said  to  those  that  came  to  Peter,  '  take,  handle  me,  and  see  that 
I  am  not  an  incorporeal  spirit ;'  and  they  immediately  touched 
him  and  believed."  Irenaeus,  also,  knew  his  martyrdom,  and 
makes  mention  of  his  epistles,  as  follows :  "  As  some  one  of  our 
faith  has  said,  who  was  condemned  to  the  wild  beasts,  '  I  am  the 
food  of  God,  and  am  ground  by  the  teeth  of  wild  beasts  that  I  may 
be  found  pure  bread.' "  Polycarp  also  makes  mention  of  these 
same  epistles  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  that  bears  his 
name,  in  the  following  words :  *'  I  exhort  you,  therefore,  all  to 
yield  obedience,  and  to  exercise  all  the  patience  which  you  sec 
with  your  own  eyes,  not  only  in  the  blessed  martyrs  Ignatius  and 
Rufus,  and  Zosimus,  but  likewise  in  others  of  your  fellow-citizens, 
as  also  in  Paul  and  the  other  apostles,  being  persuaded  that  all 
these  did  not  run  in  vain,  but  in  faith  and  righteousness,  and  that 
they  are  gone  to  the  place  destined  for  them  by  the  Lord,  for 
whom  also  they  suffered.  For  they  did  not  love  the  world  that 
now  is,  but  him  that  died  for  us,  and  that  was  raised  again  by 
God."  And  afterwards  he  writes :  "  You  have  also  written  to 
me,  both  you  and  Ignatius,  that  if  any  one  is  going  to  Syria,  he 
should  carry  your  letters  thither,  which  shall  be  done  if  I  find  a 
suitable  opportunity,  either  by  me  or  the  one  that  1  send  on  this 
errand  to  you.  The  epistles  of  Ignatius  that  were  sent  to  us  by 
him,  I  have  sent  you  at  your  request,  and  they  are  appended  to 
this  epistle,  from  which  you  will  be  able  to  derive  great  benefit : 
for  they  comprise  faith,  and  patience,  and  all  edification  pertain- 
ing to  our  Lord."  Thus  much  respecting  Ignatius.  But  he  was 
succeeded  in  the  episcopal  oflice  at  Antioch  by  Heros. 


£CCLESL\STICAL  HISTORY  123 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

The  preaching  evangelists  that  icere  yet  Uvivg  in  that  age. 

Of  those  that  flourished  in  these  times,  Quadratus  is  said  to  have 
been  distinguished  for  his  prophetical  gifts.  There  were  many 
others,  also,  noted  in  these  times,  who  held  the  first  rank  in  the  apos- 
tolic succession.  These,  as  the  holy  disciples  of  such  men,  also  built 
up  the  churches  where  foundations  had  been  previously  laid  in 
every  place  by  the  apostles.  They  augmented  the  means  of  promul- 
gating the  gospel  more  and  more,  and  spread  the  seeds  of  salva- 
tion and  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  throughout  the  world  far  and 
wide.  For  the  most  of  the  disciples  at  that  time,  animated  with 
a  more  ardent  love  of  the  divine  word,  had  first  fulfilled  the  Sa- 
viour's precept  by  distributing  their  substance  to  the  needy.  Af- 
terwards leaving  their  country,  they  performed  the  office  of  evan- 
gelists to  those  who  had  not  yet  heard  the  faith,  whilst  with  a 
noble  ambition  to  proclaim  Christ,  they  also  delivered  to  them  the 
books  of  the  holy  gospels.  After  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
faith  in  foreign  parts  as  the  particular  object  of  their  mission, 
and  after  appointing  others  as  shepherds  of  the  flocks,  and  com- 
mitting to  these  the  care  of  those  that  had  been  recently  intro- 
duced, they  went  again  to  other  regions  and  nations,  with  the 
grace  and  co-operation  of  God.  The  holy  Spirit  also,  wrought 
many  wonders  as  yet  through  them,  so  that  as  soon  as  the  gospel 
was  heal"d,  men  voluntarily  in  crowds,  and  eagerly,  embraced  the 
true  faith  with  their  whole  minds.  As  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
give  the  numbers  of  the  individuals  that  became  pastors  or  evan- 
gelists, during  the  first  immediate  succession  from  the  apostles  in 
the  churches  throughout  the  world,  we  have  only  recorded  those 
by  name  in  our  history,  of  whom  we  have  received  the  traditional 
account  as  it  is  dehvered  in  the  various  comments  on  the  apostolic 
doctrine,  still  extant. 
13^ 


124  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  EpisLle  of  Clement,  and  tJiose  that  are  falsely  ascribed  to  him. 

We  may  mention  as  an  instance  what  Ignatius  has  said  in  the 
epistles  we  have  cited,  and  Clement  in  that  universally  received 
by  all,  which  he  wrote  in  the  name  of  the  church  at  Ptome  to 
that  of  Corinth.  In  which,  after  giving  many  sentiments  taken 
from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  also,  literally  quoting  the 
words,  he  most  clearly  shows  that  this  work  is  by  no  means  a  late 
production.  Whence  it  is  probable  that  this  was  also  numbered 
with  the  other  writings  of  the  apostles.  For  as  Paul  had  address- 
ed the  Hebrews  in  the  language  of  his  country ;  some  say  that  the 
evangelist  Luke,  others  that  Clement,  translated  the  epistle. 
Which  also  appears  more  like  the  truth,  as  the  epistle  of  Clement 
and  that  to  the  Hebrews,  preserve  the  same  features  of  style  and 
phraseology,  and  because  the  sentiments  in  both  these  works  are 
not  very  different.  It  should  also  be  observed,  that  there  is  a 
second  epistle  ascribed  to  Clement;  but  we  know  not  that  this  is  as 
highly  approved  as  the  former,  and  know  not  that  it  has  been  in 
use  with  the  ancients.  There  are  also  other  writings  reported  to 
be  his,  verbose  and  of  great  length.  Lately,  and  some  time  ago, 
those  were  produced  that  contain  the  dialogues  of  Peter  and 
Apion,  of  which,  however,  not  a  syllable  is  recorded  by  the  pri- 
mitive church.  For  they  do  not  preserve  the  pure  impress  of 
apostolic  orthodoxy.  The  epistle,  therefore,  of  Clement,  that  is 
acknowledged  as  genuine  is  evident.  But  sufficient  has  been 
said  on  the  writings  of  Ignatius  and  Polycarp. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

The  ivritings  of  Papias. 


There  are  said  to  be  five  books  of  Papias,  which  bear  the 
title  "  Interpretation  of  our  Lord's  Declarations."     Irenaeus  also. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  125 

makes  mention  of  these  as  the  only  works  written  by  him,  in  the 
following  terms :  "  These  things  are  attested  by  Papias,  who  was 
John's  hearer  and  the  associate  of  Poly  carp,  an  ancient  writer, 
who  mentions  them  in  the  fourth  book  of  his  works.  For  he  has 
written  a  work  in  five  books."  So  far  Irenaeus.  But  Papias 
himself,  in  the  preface  to  his  discourses,  by  no  means  asserts  that 
he  was  a  hearer  and  an  eye-witness  of  the  holy  apbstles,  but 
informs  us  that  he  received  the  doctrines  of  faith  from  their  inti- 
mate friends,  which  he  states  in  the  following  words :  "  But  I 
shall  not  regret  to  subjoin  to  my  interpretations,  also  for  your 
benefit,  whatsoever  I  have  at  any  time  accurately  ascertained 
and  treasured  up  in  my  memory,  as  I  have  received  it  from  the 
elders,  and  have  recorded  it  in  order  to  give  additional  confirma- 
tion to  the  truth,  by  my  testimony.  For  I  have  never,  like  many, 
delighted  to  hear  those  that  tell  many  things,  but  those  that  teach 
the  truth,  neither  those  that  record  foreign  precepts,  but  those 
that  are  given  from  the  Lord,  to  our  faith,  and  that  came  from 
the  truth  itself.  But  if  I  met  with  any  one  who  had  been  a 
follower  of  the  elders  any  where,  I  made  it  a  point  to  inquire 
what  were  the  declarations  of  the  elders.  What  was  said  by 
Andrew,  Peter  or  Philip.  What  by  Thomas,  James,  John,  Mat- 
thew, or  any  other  of  the  disciples  of  our  Lord.  What  was  said 
by  Aristion,  and  the  presbyter  John,  disciples  of  the  Lord ;  for  I 
do  not  think  that  I  derived  so  much  benefit  from  books  as  from 
the  hving  voice  of  those  that  are  still  surviving."  Where  it  is 
also  proper  to  observe  the  name  of  John  is  twice  mentioned. 
The  former  of  which  he  mentions  with  Peter  and  James  and 
Matthew,  and  the  other  apostles ;  evidently  meaning  the  evan- 
gelist. But  in  a  separate  point  of  his  discourse  he  ranks  the 
other  John,  with  the  rest  not  included  in  the  number  of  apos- 
tles, placing  Aristion  before  him.  He  distinguishes  him  plainly 
by  the  name  of  presbyter.  So  that  it  is  here  proved  that  the 
statement  of  those  is  true,  who  assert  there  were  two  of  the 
same  name  in  Asia,  that  there  were  also  two  tombs  in  Ephesus, 
and  that  both  are  called  John's  even  to  this  day ;  which  it  is 
particularly  necessary  to  observe.  For  it  is  probable  that  the 
second,  if  it  be  not  allowed  that  it  was  the  first,  saw  the  revela' 


126  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

tion  ascribed  to  John.  And  the  same  Papias,  of  whom  we  now 
speak,  professes  to  have  received  the  declarations  of  the  apostles 
from  those  that  were  in  company  with  them,  and  says  also  that 
he  was  a  hearer  of  Arislion  and  the  presbyter  John.  For  as  he 
has  often  mentioned  them  by  name,  he  also  gives  their  state- 
ments in  his  own  works.  These  matters,  I  trust,  have  not  been 
uselessly  adduced.  But  it  may  be  important  also  to  subjoin  other 
declarations  to  these  passages  from  Papias,  in  which  he  gives  cer- 
tain wonderful  accounts,  together  with  other  matters  that  he 
seems  to  have  received  by  tradition.  That  the  apostle  Philip 
continued  at  Hierapolis,  with  his  daughters,  has  been  already 
stated  above.  But  we  must  now  show  how  Papias,  coming  to 
them,  received  a  wonderful  account  from  the  daughters  of  Philip. 
For  he  writes  that  in  his  time  there  was  one  raised  from  the  dead. 
Another  wonderful  event  happened  respecting  Justus,  surnamed 
Barsabas,  who,  though  he  drank  a  deadly  poison,  experienced 
nothing  injurious  through  the  grace  of  the  Lord.  This  same 
Justus  is  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Acts,  after  the  resurrection, 
as  the  one  over  whom,  together  with  Matthew,  the  holy  apostles 
prayed,  in  order  to  fill  up  their  number,  by  casting  lots,  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  Judas  the  traitor.  The  passage  is  as  follows; 
"  And  they  placed  two,  Joseph,  called  Barsabas,  who  was  sur- 
named Justus  and  Matthias.  And  having  prayed,  they  said." 
The  same  historian  also  gives  other  accounts,  which  he  says  he 
adds  as  received  by  him  from  unwritten  tradition,  likewise  cer- 
tain strange  parables  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  doctrine  and  some 
other  matters  rather  too  fabulous.  In  these  he  says  there  w^ould 
be  a  certain  millennium  after  the  resurrection,  and  that  there 
would  be  a  corporeal  reign  of  Christ  on  this  very  earth ;  which 
things  he  appears  to  have  imagined,  as  if  they  were  authorized 
by  the  apostolic  narrations,  not  understanding  correctly  those 
matters  which  they  propounded  mystically  in  their  representa- 
tions. For  he  was  very  Umited  in  his  comprehension,  as  is  evident 
from  his  discourses ;  yet  he  was  the  cause  why  most  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical writers,  urging  the  antiquity  of  the  man,  were  carried 
away  by  a  similar  opinion  ;  as,  for  instance,  Irenaus,  or  any  other 
that  adopted  such  sentiments.     He  has  also  inserted  in  his  work 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  IS? 

other  accounts  given  by  the  abovementioned  Aristion,  respect- 
ing our  Lord,  as  also  the  traditions  of  the  Presbyter  John,  to 
which  referring  those  that  are  desirous  of  learning  them,  we  shall 
now  subjoin  to  the  extracts  from  him,  already  given,  a  tradition 
which  he  sets  forth  concerning  Mark,  who  wrote  the  gospel  in 
the  following  words :  "  And  John  the  Presbyter  also  said  this, 
Mark  being  the  interpeter  of  Petp'  -^^hatsoever  he  recorded  he 
wrote  with  great  accuracy  but  not  however,  in  the  order  in 
which  it  was  spoken  or  done  by  our  Lord,  for  he  neither  heard 
nor  followed  our  Lord,  but  as  before  said,  he  was  in  company  with 
Peter,  who  gave  him  such  instruction  as  was  necessary,  but  not 
to  give  a  history  of  our  Lord's  discourses  :  wherefore  Mark  has 
not  erred  in  any  thing,  by  writing  some  things  as  he  has  recorded 
them ;  for  he  was  carefully  attentive  to  one  thing,  not  to  pass  by 
any  thing  that  he  heard,  or  to  state  any  thing  falsely  in  these  ac- 
counts." Such  is  the  account  of  Papias,  respecting  Mark.  Of 
Matthew  he  has  stated  as  follows  :  "  Matthew  composed  his  his- 
tory in  the  Hebrew  dialect*,  and  every  one  translated  it  as  he 
was  able."  The  same  author  (Papias)  made  use  of  testimonies 
from  the  first  epistle  of  John,  and  likewise  from  that  of  Peter. 
He  also  gives  another  history  of  a  woman,  who  had  been  accused 
of  many  sins  before  the  Lord,  which  is  also  contained  in  the  gos- 
pel according  to  the  Hebrews.  And  this  may  be  noted  as  a  ne- 
cessary addition  to  what  we  have  before  stated. 

•  The  author  here,  doubtless,  means  the  Syro-Chaldaic,  which  is  sometimes  in 
Scripture,  and  primitive  writers,  called  Hebrew. 


BOOK   IV. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  bishops  of  Rome  and  Alexandria,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan. 

About  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Trajan,  the  bishop  of 
the  church  of  Alexandria,  who  was  mentioned  by  us  a  little  be- 
fore, departed  this  life.  Primus  was  the  fourth  from  the  apos- 
tles to  whom  the  functions  of  the  office  were  there  allotted.  At 
the  same  time  also,  after  Euarestus  had  completed  the  eighth 
year  as  bishop  of  Rome,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  episcopal  office 
by  Alexander,  the  fifth  in  the  succession  from  Peter  and  Paul. 


CHAPTER   11. 

The  calamities  of  the  Jews  about  this  time. 

But  the  doctrines  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  church  flourishing 
from  day  to  day,  continued  to  receive  constant  accessions.  But  the 
calamities  of  the  Jews  also  continued  to  grow  with  one  accumula- 
tion of  evil  upon  another.  The  emperor  was  now  advancing  into 
the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  and  another  commotion  of  the 
Jews  being  raised,  he  destroyed  a  very  great  number  of  them. 
For  in  Alexandria  and  the  rest  of  Egypt,  and  also  in  Cyrene,  as 
if  actuated  by  some  terrible  and  tempestuous  spirit,  they  rushed 
upon  seditious  measures  against  the  Greeks  of  the  same  place. 
Having  increased  the  insurrection  to  a  great  extent,  they  excited 
no  inconsiderable  war  the  following  year,  when  Lupus  was  go- 
vernor of  all  Egypt.  And  in  the  first  conflict,  indeed,  it  happenea 
that  they  prevailed  over  the  Greeks  ;  who,  retreating  into  Alexan- 
dria, took  and  destroyed  the  Jews  that  were  found  in  the  city, 

128 


ECCLESrAbr-CAL  HISTORY.  129 

But  the  Jews  of  Cyrene  being  deprived  of  their  assistance,  after 
laying  waste  the  country  of  Egypt,  also  proceeded  to  destroy  its 
districts,  under  their  leader  Lucuas.  Against  these  the  emperor 
sent  Marcius  Turbo,  with  foot  and  naval  forces,  besides  cavalry. 
He,  however,  protracting  the  war  a  long  time  against  them  in 
many  battles,  slew  many  thousand  Jews,  not  only  of  Cyrene,  but 
also  of  Egypt  that  had  joined  them,  together  with  their  leader 
Lucuas.  But  the  emperor  suspecting  that  the  Jews  in  Mesopo- 
tamia would  also  make  an  attack  upon  those  there,  ordered  Lu- 
cius Quietus  to  clear  the  province  of  them,  who  also  led  an  army 
against  them,  and  slew  a  great  multitude  of  them.  Upon  which 
victory,  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Judea  by  the  emperor. 
These  things  are  recorded  by  the  Greek  writers  of  the  day,  in 
nearly  the  same  words. 


CHAPTER   IIL 


The  authors  that  wrote  in  the  defence  of  the  faith,  in  the  reign  of 
Adrian. 

But  Trajan  having  held  the  sovereignty  for  twenty  years,  want- 
ing six  months,  is  succeeded  in  the  imperial  office  by  iElius  Ha- 
drian. To  him.  Quadra  tus  addressed  a  discourse,  as  an  apology 
for  the  religion  that  we  profess;  because  certain  malicious  persons 
attempted  to  harass  our  brethren.  The  work  is  still  in  the  hands 
of  some  of  the  brethren,  as  also  in  our  OAvn,  from  which  any  one 
may  see  evident  proof,  both  of  the  understanding  of  the  man,  and 
of  his  apostolic  faith. 

This  writer  shows  the  antiquity  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived, 
in  these  passages :  "  The  deeds  of  our  Saviour,"  says  he,  "  were 
always  before  you,  for  they  were  true  miracles ;  those  that  were 
healed,  those  that  were  raised  from  the  dead,  who  were  seen,  not 
only  when  healed  and  when  raised,  but  were  always  present. 
They  remained  Hving  a  long  time,  not  only  whilst  our  Lord  was 
on  earth,  but  likewise  when  he  had  left  the  earth.  So  that  some 
of  them  have  also  lived  to  our  own  times."  Such  was  Quadratus. 
R 


130  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTOUY. 

Aristides,  also,  a  man  faithfully  devoted  to  the  religion  we  profess, 
like  Q-uadratus,  has  left  to  posterity  a  defence  of  the  faith,  ad- 
dressed to  Adrian.  This  work  is  also  preserved  by  a  great  num- 
ber, even  to  the  present  day. 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  bishops  of  Alexandria  and  Rome,  under  the  same  emperor. 

But  in  the  third  year  of  the  same  reign,  Alexander,  bishop  of 
Rome,  died,  having  completed  the  tenth  year  of  his  ministrations. 
Xystus  was  his  successor;  and  about  the  same  time  Primus  dying, 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  episcopate,  was  succeeded  by  Justus. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  bishops  of  Jerusalem,  from  the  period  of  our  Saviour  until 
these  times. 

We  have  not  ascertained  in  any  way,  that  the  'times  of  the 
bishops  in  Jerusalem  have  been  regularly  preserved  on  record,  for 
tradition  says  that  they  all  lived  but  a  very  short  time.  So  much, 
however,  have  I  learned  from  writers,  that  down  to  the  invasion 
of  the  Jews  under  Adrian,  there  were  fifteen  successions  of  bi- 
shops in  that  church,  all  which,  they  say,  were  Hebrews  from  the 
first,  and  received  the  knowledge  of  Christ  pure  and  unadultera- 
ted; so  that,  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  were  able  to  judge, 
they  were  well  approved,  and  worthy  of  the  episcopal  office.  For 
at  that  time  the  whole  church  under  them,  consisted  of  faithful 
Hebrews,  who  continued  from  the  time  of  the  apostles,  until  the 
siege  that  then  took  place.  The  Jews  then  again  revolting  from 
the  Romans,  were  subdued  and  captured,  after  very  severe  con- 
flicts.    In  the  mean  time,  as  the  bishops  from  the  circumcision 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  131 

failed,  it  may  be  necessary  now  to  recount  them  in  order,  from 
the  first.  The  first,  then,  was  James  called  the  brother  of  our 
Lord ;  after  whom,  the  second  was  Simeon,  the  third  Justus,  the 
fourth  Zaccheus,  the  fifth  Tobias,  the  sixth  Benjamin,  the  seventh 
John,  the  eighth  Matthew,  the  ninth  Philip,  the  tenth  Seneca, 
the  eleventh  Justus,  the  twelfth  Levi,  the  thirteenth  Ephres,  the 
fourteenth  Joseph,  and  finally,  the  fifteenth  Judas,  These  are  all 
the  bishops  of  Jerusalem  that  filled  up  the  time  from  the  apostles 
until  the  abovementioned  time,  all  of  the  circumcision.  And 
Adrian  being  now  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign,  Xystus,  who 
had  now  completed  the  tenth  year  of  his  episcopate,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Telesphorus  the  seventh  in  succession  from  the  apostles. 
In  the  mean  time,  however,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year  and  some 
months,  Eumenes  succeeded,  the  sixth  in  order  in  the  episcopate 
of  Alexandria,  his  predecessor  having  filled  the  oflice  eleven  years. 


CHAPTEP^   VI. 

The  last  siege  of  the  Jews,  under  Adrian. 

As  the  revolt  of  the  Jews  again  proceeded  to  many  and  great 
excesses,  Rufus,  who  was  lieutenant-governor  of  Judea,  having 
received  an  augmentation  of  forces  from  the  emperor,  and  using 
their  madness  as  a  pretext,  destroyed,  without  mercy,  myriads  of 
men,  women,  and  children  in  crowds ;  and  by  the  laws  of  war,  he 
reduced  their  country  to  a  state  of  absolute  subjection.  The  Jews 
were  then  led  on  by  one  Barchochebas,  signifying  a  star,  but  who 
was  in  other  respects  a  murderer  and  robber.  But  by  means  of 
his  assumed  title,  among  a  degraded  race,  now  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  slaves,  he  pretended  to  many  miracles,  as  if  he  were 
a  light  descending  from  heaven,  whose  object  was  to  cheer  them 
in  their  oppression.  But  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Adrian,  when  the  war  had  reached  its  height  at  the  city  of  Bitthe- 
ra,  a  very  strong  fortress  not  very  far  from  Jerusalem,  the  siege  was 
continued  for  some  time,  and  the  revolters  were  driven  to  the  last 
14 


# 


132  ECCELSIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

extreme  by  hunger  and  famine.  The  author  of  their  madness  had 
also  suffered  his  just  punishment,  and  the  whole  nation  from  that 
time  were  totally  prohibited,  by  the  decree  and  commands  of 
Adrian,  from  even  entering  the  country  about  Jerusalem,  so  that 
they  could  not  behold  the  soil  of  their  fathers  even  at  a  distance. 
Such  is  the  statement  of  Aristo,  of  Pella.  The  city  of  the  Jewss 
being  thus  reduced  to  a  state  of  abandonment  for  them,  and  totally 
stripped  of  its  ancient  inhabitants,  and  also  inhabited  by  strangers ; 
the  Roman  city  which  subsequently  arose,  changing  its  name,  was 
called  iElia,  in  honour  of  the  emperor  ^Elius  Adrian;  and  when 
the  church  was  collected  there  of  the  Gentiles,  the  first  bishop 
after  those  of  the  circumcision  was  Marcus. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Tliose  ivho  were  considered  leaders  in  false  doctrine  at  this  time. 

As  the  churches  now  were  reflecting  the  light  like  splendid 
luminaries  throughout  the  world,  and  the  faith  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  was  spreading  so  as  to  embrace  the  whole 
human  race,  the  malignant  spirit  of  iniquity,  as  the  enemy  of  all 
truth,  and  always  the  most  violent  enemy  to  the  salvation  of  men, 
was  now  devising  every  species  of  machination  against  the 
church,  as  he  had  already  before  armed  himself  against  it  by 
former  persecutions.  When,  however,  cut  off  from  those,  he 
then  waged  a  war  by  other  methods,  in  which  he  employed 
the  agency  of  wicked  impostors  as  certain  abandoned  instru- 
ments and  minions  of  destruction.  Intent  upon  every  course, 
he  instigated  these  insidious  impostors  and  deceivers,  by  assum- 
ing the  same  name  with  us  (Christians)  to  lead  those  believers 
whom  they  happened  to  seduce  to  the  depths  of  destruction,  and 
by  their  presumption,  also  turn  those  that  were  ignorant  of  the 
faith,  from  the  path  that  led  to  the  saving  truth  of  God.  Hence 
a  certain  double-headed  and  double-tongued  serpentine  power, 
proceeding  from  that  Menander  whom  we  have  already  men- 
tioned as  the  successor  of  Simon,  produced  two  leaders  of  dif- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  133 

ferent  heresies ;  Saturninus,  a  native  of  Antioch,  and  Basilides, 
of  Alexandria.  The  former  of  these  estabhshed  schools  of  im- 
pious heresy  in  Syria,  the  latter  in  Egypt.  Irenaeus,  indeed,  states, 
that  in  most  respects  Saturninus  held  the  same  false  doctrines 
with  Menander,  but  that  Basilides,  under  the  pretext  of  matters  too 
deep  to  be  divulged,  stretched  his  inventions  to  a  boundless  ex- 
tent, in  his  astonishing  fictions  of  impious  heresy.  But  as  there 
were  at  the  time  many  ecclesiastical  writers,  who  contended  for 
the  truth,  and  defended  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles  and  the 
church,  with  more  than  common  learning,  so  there  were  also 
some  who,  by  publishing  their  writings,  furnished  preventives  by 
he  way  against  these  heresies.  Of  these,  the  best  refutation  of 
Basilides  that  has  come  down  to  us,  is  that  of  Agrippa  Castor, 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  writers  of  that  day.  In  this  refu- 
tation he  fully  exposes  the  dreadful  imposture  of  the  man,  and 
reveals  his  pretended  mysteries.  He  says,  that  he  composed 
twenty-four  books  upon  the  gospels,  and  that  he  mentions  Bar- 
cabbas,  and  Barcoph,  as  prophets,  and  invents  others  for  himself 
that  never  existed.  That  he  also  gave  them  certain  barbarous 
names,  in  order  to  astonish  those  the  more  who  are  easily  ensnared 
by  such  things  as  these.  That  he  taught  also,  it  was  indifferent 
for  those  that  tasted  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  were  be- 
trayed unwarily  to  abjure  the  faith  in  times  of  persecution.  Like 
Pythagoras,  he  enjoined,  also,  upon  his  followers  a  silence  of 
five  years.  Other  accounts  similar  to  these  are  given  by  the 
abovementioned  author,  respecting  Basilides,  in  which  he  ably 
exposes  the  fallacy  of  his  heresy.  Irenaeus  also  writes,  that 
Carpocrates  was  contemporary  with  these,  who  was  also  the  fa- 
ther of  another  heresy,  called  the  heresy  of  the  Gnostics. 

These  did  not,  like  the  former,  wish  to  retain  the  magic  arts  ot 
Simon  in  secret,  but  thought  that  they  should  be  made  public.  So 
that,  as  if  it  were  something  great  and  glorious,  they  boasted  of 
preparations  of  love  potions,  and  of  tutelary  and  dream-exciting 
daemons,  and  other  similar  magic  rites.  In  accordance  with 
these  things,  they  also  taught,  that  the  basest  deeds  should  be 
perpetrated  by  those  that  would  arrive  at  perfection  in  the  mys- 
teries, or  rather,  that  would  reach  the  extent  of  their  abomina- 


134  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

tions.  So  that,  as  they  were  accustomed  to  speak,  one  could  in 
no  other  way  escape  the  rulers  of  the  world,  unless  by  performing 
his  part  of  obscenity  to  all.  By  the  aid  of  such  coadjutors,  it 
I'^ppened,  that  the  spirit  of  wickedness  enslaved  those  that  were 
ip^  astray  by  them  to  their  own  destruction ;  whilst  to  the  unbe- 
Jieving  Gentiles,  they  afforded  abundant  scope  to  slander  the  truth 
of  God,  as  the  report  proceeding  from  them  extended  with  its 
infamy  to  the  whole  body  of  Christians.  In  this  way  it  happened, 
therefore,  for  the  most  part,  that  a  certain  impious  and  most 
absurd  suspicion  was  spread  abroad  among  the  unbelievers  re- 
specting us,  as  of  those  who  had  unlawful  commerce  with  mothers 
and  sisters,  and  made  use  of  execrable  food.  These  artifices, 
however,  did  not  continue  to  advance  far,  as  the  truth  never- 
theless established  itself,  and  in  process  of  time  shed  abroad  its 
own  light  more  and  more.  Indeed,  the  machinations  of  its  ene- 
mies were  almost  immediately  extinguished  by  the  power  of 
truth ;  one  sect  rising  after  another,  the  first  always  passing 
away,  and  one  in  one  way,  and  another  in  another,  evaporating 
into  speculations  of  many  modes,  and  as  many  forms.  But  the 
splendour  of  the  universal  and  only  true  church  constantly  ad- 
vanced in  greatness  and  glory,  always  the  same  in  all  matters 
under  the  same  circumstances,  and  reflected  its  dignity,  its  sin- 
cerity, ts  freeaom  tne  modesty  and  purity  of  that  divine  life  and 
temper  wnicn  it  mculcates,  to  all  nations,  both  Greeks  and  bar- 
barians. At  the  same  time  with  the  above  heresy,  were  extin- 
guished, also,  the  aspersions  upon  our.  religion.  For  the  doctrine 
that  Ave  hold  has  alone  survived,  has  prevailed  over  all,  and  been 
universally  acknowledged  as  surpassing  all  in  dignity  and  gra- 
vity, in  divine  truths  that  evince  a  genuine  and  sound  philosophy. 
So  that  no  one,  down  to  the  present  time,  has  dared  to  af- 
fix any  calumny  upon  our  faith,  nor  any  such  slander,  such  as 
was  formerly  so  eagerly  applied  by  those  that  rose  up  against  us. 
Nevertheless,  in  those  times  the  truth  presented  many  champi- 
ons that  undertook  its  defence,  not  only  by  unwritten  argument- 
ation, but,  also,  by  their  written  demonstrations  against  the  pre- 
vailing heretical  impieties. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  135 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

The  ecclesiastical  icriiers  then  flourishing. 

Among  these,  Hegesippus  holds  a  distinguished  rank,  many  of 
whose  writings  we  have  ah'eady  quoted,  where  we  have  given 
some  things  as  he  has  dehvered  them  from  apostohc  ti'adition. 
This  author  compiled,  in  five  books,  the  plain  tradition  of  the  apos- 
tolic doctrine,  in  a  most  simple  style  of  composition,  and  clearly 
shows  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  where  he  writes  respecting  those 
that  began  to  erect  idols,  as  follows :  "  To  whom  they  made  ce- 
notaphs and  temples,  as  we  see  to  this  day.  Among  whom  was 
Antinous,  the  slave  of  Adrian  the  emperor,  to  whose  honour  like- 
wise games  are  celebrated,  which  has  been  done  in  our  own  days. 
For  he  (Adrian,)  also  built  a  city,  called  after  Antinous,  and  in- 
stituted prophets."  At  this  time  also,  Justin,  a  true  lover  of  sound 
philosophy,  whilst  he  yet  continued  exercising  himself  in  the  lite- 
rature of  the  Greeks,  likewise  shows  this  very  time  in  his  apology 
to  Antonine,  as  follows :  "  I  do  not  think  it  out  of  place  here,  to  men- 
tion Antinous  of  our  own  day,  whom  all,  notwithstanding  they 
know  who  and  whence  he  was,  yet  affected  to  worship  as  a  god." 
The  same  author  adds  this  remark,  speaking  of  the  Jewish  war : 
"  And,  indeed,  in  the  Jewish  war  which  has  happened  in  our  times, 
Barchochebas,  the  leader  of  the  Jewish  revolt,  commanded  the 
Christians  alone  to  be  led  to  €evere  and  dreadful  tortures,  unless 
they  would  deny  and  blaspheme  Christ  Jesus."  In  the  same  work, 
also,  showing  his  own  conversion  from  the  Greek  philosophy  to  re- 
ligion to  be  the  effect  of  cool  deliberation  and  judgment,  and  not 
without  good  reason,  writes  as  follows:  "For  whilst  I  was  de- 
lighted with  the  doctrines  of  Plato,  and  heard  the  Christians  ca- 
lumniated, but  at  the  same  time  saw  them  intrepid  at  the  prospect 
of  death,  and  every  thing  deemed  terrific,  I  reflected  that  it  was 
impossible  they  should  live  devoted  to  vice  and  voluptuousness. 
For  what  lover  of  pleasure,  or  intemperate  man,  or  what  man 
deeming  human  flesh  a  delicacy,  could  embrace  death  in  order 
to  be  deprived  of  the  objects  of  his  own  desires ;  and  would  not 


130  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

rather  strive  to  live  always  to  escape  the  eye  of  the  magistrate, 
and  not  inform  against  himself,  in  the  expectation  of  certain 
death/'  The  same  author,  moreover,  relates,  that  Adrian  hav- 
ing received  letters  from  Serenius  Granianus,  the  most  illustrious 
proconsul,  respecting  the  Christians,  in  vi^hich  he  states,  that  it 
did  not  appear  just  to  put  the  Christians  to  death  without  a  re- 
gular accusation  and  trial,  merely  to  gratify  the  outcries  of  the 
populace ;  and  that  he  wrote  back  to  Minucius  Fundanus,  procon- 
sul of  Asia,  enjoining  upon  him  to  put  no  one  to  death,  without 
an  indictment  and  lawful  accusation.  Of  this  epistle,  also,  he 
(Justin,)  adds  a  copy  in  the  Latin  tongue,  in  which  it  was  written. 
He  also  premises  the  following  explanation.  "  Although  we  have 
good  cause,  from  the  epistle  of  your  most  illustrious  father,  the 
emperor  Adrian,  to  request  of  you  as  we  requested  of  him,  that 
the  Christians  should  be  regularly  tried ;  this  we  have  requested, 
not  so  much  because  it  was  ordered  by  Adrian,  as  because  we 
know  that  the  object  of  our  request  is  just.  We  have  also  sub- 
joined a  copy  of  Adrian's  epistle,  that  you  may  know  we  declare 
the  truth  likewise  in  this.  And  here  it  follows."  To  this,  the  au- 
thor adds  the  copy  of  the  epistle,  in  the  Latin  tongue ;  and  we  have 
translated  it  into  the  Greek,  according  to  the  best  of  our  abilities, 
as  follows. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


Tlie  epistle  of  Hadrian,  forbidding  the  Christians  to  be  punished 
idthout  trial. 

"  To  Minucius  Fundanus.  I  have  received  an  epistle,  written 
to  me  by  the  most  illustrious  Serenius  Granianus,  whom  you  have 
succeeded.  I  do  not  wish,  therefore,  that  the  matter  should  be 
passed  by  without  examination,  so  that  these  men  may  neither 
be  harassed,  nor  opportunity  of  malicious  proceedings  be  offered 
to  informers.  If,  therefore,  the  provincials  can  clearly  evince  their 
charges  against  the  Christians,  so  as  to  answer  before  the  tribu- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  13? 

nal,  let  them  pursue  this  course  only,  but  not  by  mere  petitions, 
and  mere  outcries  against  the  Christians.  For  it  is  far  more  pro- 
per, if  any  one  would  bring  an  accusation,  that  you  should  exa- 
mine it.  If  any  one,  therefore,  brings  an  accusation,  and  can 
show  that  they  have  done  any  thing  contrary  to  the  laws,  deter- 
mine it  thus  according  to  the  heinousness  of  the  crime.  So  that 
indeed,  if  any  one  should  purpose  this  with  a  view  to  slander,  in- 
vestigate it  according  to  its  criminality,  and  see  to  it  that  you 
inflict  the  punishment."  Such,  then,  is  the  copy  of  Adrian's  letter. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  bishops  of  Rome  and  Alexandria,  in  the  reign  of  Antonine. 

But  this  emperor  (Adrian,)  having  finished  his  mortal  career, 
after  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  reign,  is  succeeded  by  Antonine, 
called  the  Pious,  in  the  government  of  the  Romans.  In  the  first 
year  of  this  reign,  and  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his  episcopate,  Te- 
lesphorus  departed  this  life,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  charge  of 
the  Roman  church  by  Hyginus.  Irenaeus,  indeed,  relates  that 
Telesphorus  was  rendered  illustrious  by  martyrdom ;  showing,  at 
the  same  time,  that  under  the  abovementioned  Roman  bishop 
Hyginus,  Valentinus  the  founder  of  a  peculiar  heresy,  and  Cer- 
don  the  leader  in  the  errors  propagated  by  Marcion,  were  both 
notorious  at  Rome.     His  statement  is  as  follows. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  heresiarchs  of  these  times. 


"  Vale\tine  came  to  Rome  under  Hyginus,  was  in  his  prime 
under  Pius,  and  hved  until  the  time  of  Anicetus.  But  Cerdon, 
who  preceded  Marcion,  and  flourished  under  the  episcopate  of  Hy- 
ginus   the  ninth  in   succession,  coming  to  the  church,  and  ac- 

S 


138  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

knowledging  his  error,  continued  in  this  way,  at  one  time  secretl? 
teaching  his  doctrines,  at  another  renouncing  them  again,  some- 
times also,  convicted  of  his  perverse  doctrines,  kept  aloof  from 
assembling  with  the  brethren."  Such  is  the  account  of  Irenasus 
in  the  third  book  against  the  heresies.  In  the  first,  however,  he 
relates  the  following  respecting  Cerdon :  "  A  certain  man,  how- 
ever, by  name  Cerdon,  who  derived  his  first  impulse  from  the  fol 
lowers  of  Simon,  and  who  made  some  stay  at  Rome,  under  Hy- 
ginus  the  ninth,  that  held  the  episcopate  in  succession  from  the 
apostles,  taught  that  the  God  who  had  been  proclaimed  by  the 
law  and  prophets,  was  not  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
for  the  latter  was  revealed,  the  other  was  unknown ;  the  former 
also,  was  just,  but  the  other  was  good.  Marcion,  who  was  from 
Pontus,  having  succeeded  Cerdon,  augmented  his  school  by  utter- 
ing his  blasphemies  without  a  blush.  But  the  same  Irenasus, 
having  most  dexterously  unravelled  the  bottomless  abyss  of  the 
errors  enveloped  in  the  Valentinian  heresy,  laid  bare  the  wick- 
edness concealed  in  it,  hke  a  serpent  lurking  in  his  nest."  Be- 
sides these,  he  says  there  was  another  (Marcus  was  his  name,) 
about  the  same  time,  who  was  a  most  perfect  adept  in  magic  illu- 
sions; and  he  describes  also,  their  profane  rites  of  initiation,  and 
their  abominable  mysteries,  in  the  following  language :  "  Some 
of  them,"  says  he,  "  prepare  a  nuptial  bed,  and  they  perform  the 
mystery  of  initiation  with  certain  forms  addressed  to  the  initiated. 
This,  they  say,  is  the  spiritual  marriage  that  has  taken  place  with 
them,  bearing  form  and  resemblance  to  the  marriages  above. 
Some  conduct  them  to  water,  and  baptizing  them,  repeat  these 
words,  *  unto  the  name  of  the  unknown  Father  of  the  universe, 
unto  the  truth  the  mother  of  all,  unto  Jesus,  unto  him  that 
descended.'  Others,  again,  repeated  Hebrew  names  in  order  the 
better  to  confound  the  initiated."  But  Hyginus  dying  after  the 
fourth  year  of  his  oflice,  Pius  received  the  episcopate,  but  at 
Alexandria  Marcus  was  appointed  the  pastor,  after  Eumencs 
had  filled  the  office  thirteen  years  in  all.  Marcus  also  dying, 
after  ten  years  of  his  ministrations,  Celadin  had  charge  of  the 
church  of  Alexandria,  and  Pius  dymg  at  Rome  in  the  filteenth 
year  of  his  episcopate,  the  church  there  was  governed  by  Aiiice- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  139 

tus.  At  this  time  Hegesippus  writes  that  he  was  at  Rome,  and 
continued  there  until  the  episcopate  of  Eleutherus.  But  Justin 
was  the  most  noted  of  those  that  flourished  in  those  times,  who, 
in  the  guise  of  a  philosopher,  preached  the  truth  of  God,  and 
contended  for  the  faith,  also,  in  his  writings.  In  a  work  that  he 
wrote  against  Marcion,  he  mentions,  that  at  the  time  he  wrote, 
the  man  was  yet  living.  He  says  that  a  certain  Marcion  from 
Pontus,  who  is  now  still  teaching  those  that  believe  him,  to  think 
that  there  is  another  God  greater  than  God  the  creator ;  that  he 
by  means  of  conjunction  with  daemons,  persuaded  many  through- 
out the  whole  world,  to  utter  blasphemy,  and  to  deny  that  the 
Creator  of  all  things  was  the  father  of  Christ ;  they  asserted, 
also,  that  another  who  was  greater  than  He,  was  the  creator. 
But,  as  we  said  before,  all  the  followers  of  these  were  called 
Christians,  just  as  the  name  of  philosophy  is  applied  to  philoso- 
phers, although  they  may  have  no  opinions  in  common.  To 
these  he  adds :  "  We  have  also  written  a  work  against  all  the 
heresies  that  have  arisen,  which  we  will  give  you  to  peruse  if 
you  wish."  But  this  same  Justin,  after  having  contended  with 
great  success  against  the  Greeks,  addressed  also  other  works, 
containing  a  defence  of  our  faUh,  to  the  emperor  Antonine,  sur- 
named  the  Pious,  and  to  the  senate  of  Rome.  He  also  had  his 
residence  at  Rome,  but  he  shows  who  and  whence  he  was  in  the 
following  extracts  in  his  Apology. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Apology  of  Justin,  addressed  to  Ardoninus. 

"  To  the  emperor  Titus  ^Elius  Adrian  Antoninus  Pius  Cesai 
Augustus,  and  to  Onesimus  his  son  the  philosopher,  and  to  Lucius 
the  natural  son  of  Cesar  the  philosopher,  and  the  adopted  son  of 
Pius,  a  votary  of  learning  ;  also,  to  the  sacred  senate  and  the 
whole  Roman  people,  in  bel  alf  of  those  who  of  all  nations  are 
now  unjustly  hated  and  aspeised ;  I,  Justin,  the  son  of  Priscus,  the 
grandson  of  Bacchius  of  Flavia,  the  new  city  of  Palestine,  Syria, 


140  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

being  one  of  their  number,  present  this  volume  and  address."  The 
same  emperor  was  also  addressed  by  others  when  the  brethren 
in  Asia  were  suffering  under  every  kind  of  injury  from  the  pro- 
vincials, and  honoured  the  people  of  Asia  with  an  ordinance  lilie 
the  followinor. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


The  Epistle  ofAntonine,  to  the  assembly  of  Asia,  respecting  our 
doctrine. 

The  emperor  Cesar  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  Augustus, 
Armenicus,  Pontifex  Maximus,  Tribune  of  the  people  XV. 
Consul  III.,  sends  greeting,  to  the  Assembly  of  Asia ;  'I  know, 
indeed,  that  the  gods  themselves  will  take  care  that  such  men 
as  these  shall  not  escape  detection.  For  it  would  more  pro- 
perly belong  to  them  to  punish  those  that  will  not  worship  them, 
than  to  you.  And  whilst  you  drive  them  into  a  tumult,  you  only 
confirm  them  the  more  in  their  mind,  by  accusing  them  as  im- 
pious. And  thus,  to  them  it  would  be  more  desirable  when  ar- 
raigned, to  appear  to  die  for  their  God,  than  to  live.  Whence, 
also,  they  may  come  off  in  triumph,  when  they  yield  up  their 
hves  in  preference  to  a  conformity  with  those  things  which  you 
exact  of  them.  But  as  to  those  earthquakes  which  have  taken 
place  and  still  continue,  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  admonish  you 
who  are  cast  down  whenever  these  happen,  and  you  compare 
your  own  deportment  with  theirs.  They,  indeed,  become  on 
these  occasions  so  much  the  more  cheerful  towards  God,  but 
you,  the  whole  of  this  time  in  which  you  seem  not  to  have  cor- 
rect knowledge,  neglect  both  the  gods  and  other  duties,  especially 
the  worship  of  the  Immortal  But  the  Christians  who  worship 
Him,  you  expel  and  persecute  to  death.  Respecting  these,  how- 
ever, m.any  of  the  governors  of  the  provinces  also  wrote  to  our 
most  divine  father.  To  whom,  also,  he  wrote  in  reply,  not  to 
trouble  them  at  all,  unless  they  appeared  to  make  attempts 
against  the  Roman  government.     Many  also  have  sent  commu- 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY.  141 

nications  to  me  respecting  them,  to  whom  also,  I  wrote  m  reply, 
following  the  course  pursued  by  my  father.  But  if  any  still  per- 
severe in  creating  difficulties  to  any  one  of  these  because  he  is 
of  this  description  (i.  e.  a^  Christian,)  let  him  that  is  thus  ar- 
raigned be  absolved  from  crime,  although  he  should  appear  to 
be  such,  but  let  the  accuser  be  held  guilty."  This  was  published 
at  Ephesus  in  the  public  convention  of  Asia.  To  these  events 
Melito  bears  testimony,  who  was  then  bishop  of  Sardis,  and  well 
known  at  that  time.  This  is  clear  from  what  he  has  said  in  that 
most  excellent  defence  of  our  faith  which  he  wrote  and  address- 
ed to  the  emperor  Verus. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Circumstances  related  of  Polycarp,  an  apostolic  man. 

About  this  time,  when  Anicetus  was  at  the  head  of  the  Roman 
church,  Irenoeus  says  that  Polycarp  was  yet  living,  and  coming 
to  Rome,  had  a  conference  with  Anicetus,  on  a  question  respect- 
ing the  day  of  the  passover.  He  also  gives  another  account  of 
Polycarp,  which  should  be  added  to  what  is  already  related 
respecting  him.  The  story  is  taken  from  the  third  book  of  Irenseus 
against  the  heresies,  and  is  as  follows :  "  And  Polycarp,  a  man 
who  had  been  instructed  by  the  apostles,  and  had  familiar  inter- 
course with  many  that  had  seen  Christ,  and  had  also  been  ap- 
pointed bishop  by  the  apostles  in  A,.sia,  in  the  church  at  Smyrna, 
whom  we  also  have  seen  in  our  youth,  for  he  lived  a  long  time, 
and  to  a  very  advanced  age,  when,  after  a  glorious  and  most 
distinguished  martyrdom,  he  departed  this  life.  He  always 
taught  what  he  had  learned  from  the  apostles,  what  the  church 
had  handed  down,  and  what  is  the  only  true  doctrine.  All  the 
churches  bear  witness  to  these  things,  and  those  that  have  been 
the  successors  of  Polycarp,  to  the  present  time,  a  witness  of  the 
truth  much  more  worthy  of  credit,  and  much  more  certain  than 
either  Valentine  or  Marcion,  or  the  rest  of  those  perverse  teach- 
ers.    The  same  Polycarp,  coming  to  Rome  under  the  episcopate 


142  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  Anicetus,  turned  many  from  the  aforesaid  heretics  to  the 
church  of  God,  proclaiming  the  one  and  only  true  faith,  that  he 
had  received  from  the  apostles,  that,  viz.,  which  was  dehvered 
by  the  church.  And  there  are  thos^  still  living  who  heard  him 
relate,  that  John  the  disciple  of  the  Lord  went  into  a  bath  at 
Ephesus,  and  seeing  Cerinthus  within,  ran  out  without  bathing, 
and  exclaimed,  "  let  us  flee  lest  the  bath  should  fall  in,  as  long  as 
Cerinthus,  that  enemy  of  truth,  is  within."  And  the  same  Poly- 
carp,  once  coming  and  meeting  Marcion,  who  said,  "  acknow- 
ledge us, "  he,  replied, "  I  acknowledge*  the  first  born  of  Satan." 
Such  caution  did  the  apostles  and  their  disciples  use,  so  as  not 
even  to  have  any  communion,  even  in  word  with  any  of  those 
that  thus  mutilated  the  truth,  according  to  the  declaration  of 
Paul :  "  An  heretical  man  after  the  first  and  second  admonition 
avoid,  knowing  that  such  an  one  is  perverse,  and  that  he  sins, 
bringing  condemnation  upon  himself"  There  is,  also,  an  excel- 
lent epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians.  From  which  those 
that  vi'ish,  and  that  have  any  concern  for  their  salvation,  may 
perceive  both  the  character  of  his  faith,  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
truth."  Such  is  the  account  of  Irenseus.  But  Polycarp,  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Philippians,  still  extant,  has  made  use  of  certain 
testimonies  taken  from  the  first  epistle  of  Peter.  About  this  time 
Antonine,  surnamed  the  Pious,  having  completed  the  twenty-se- 
cond year  of  his  reign,  was  succeeded  by  Marcus  Aurelius  Ve- 
rus,  who  is  also  called  Antoninus,  his  son,  together  with  his  bro- 
ther Lucius. 


*  It  was  customary  in  the  primitive  church  to  use  this  expression  as  a  form  of 
salutation,  particularly  at  the  communion.  I  acknowledge  thee,  therefore,  is  the 
same  as  "  I  salute  thee." 


4 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  143 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  martyrdom  of  Polycarp,  loith  others  at  Smyrna, 

At  this  time,  as  there  were  the  greatest  persecutions  excited 
in  Asia,  Polycarp  ended  his  hfe  by  martyrdom.  But  I  consider  it 
all-important  also  to  record  his  end  in  this  history,  as  it  is  handed 
down  in  writings  still  extant.  There  is,  however,  an  epistle  of  the 
church  which  he  superintended,  to  the  churches  of  Pontus,  which 
shows  what  befel  him,  in  the  following  words :  "  The  church  of 
God  at  Smyrna,  to  that  of  Philomelius,  and  to  all  parts  of  the 
holy  catholic,  (universal  church,)  everywhere,  mercy,  peace,  and 
the  love  of  God  the  Father,  and  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  mul- 
tiplied. We  have  written  to  you,  brethren,  the  circumstances 
respecting  the  martyrs,  and  the  blessed  Polycarp,  who  as  if  seal- 
ing it  with  his  martyrdom  has  also  put  a  stop  to  the  persecution." 
After  these,  before  the  account  of  Polycarp's  death,  they  give  the 
account  of  the  other  martyrs,  and  show  what  firmness  they 
evinced  against  the  tortures  they  endured.  "  For,"  say  they, "  those 
standing  around,  were  struck  with  amazement,  at  seeing  them 
lacerated  with  scourges,  to  their  very  blood  and  arteries,  so  that 
now  the  flesh  concealed  in  the  very  inmost  parts  of  the  body, 
and  the  bowels  themselves  were  exposed  to  view.  Then  they 
were  laid  upon  conch  shells  from  the  sea,  and  on  sharp  heads 
and  points  of  spears  on  the  ground,  and  after  passing  through 
every  kind  of  punishment  and  torment,  were  at  last  thrown  as 
food  to  wild  beasts.  But  they  relate  that  Germanicus,  a  most 
noble  youth,  was  particularly  eminent  as  a  martyr ;  who, 
strengthened  by  divine  grace,  overcame  the  natural  dread  of 
death  implanted  in  us  ;  although  the  proconsul  was  desirous 
of  persuading  him,  and  urged  him  from  considerations  of  his  youth, 
and  entreated  him,  that  as  he  was  so  very  young  and  blooming 
he  should  take  compassion  on  himself.  He,  however,  hesitated 
not,  but  eagerly  irritated  the  wild  beast  against  him,  all  but 
forcing  and  stimulating  him,  that  he  might  the  sooner  be  freed 
from  this  unjust  and  lawless  generation.  On  the  glorious  death 
^  15 


144  ECCi-ESlASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  this  one,  the  whole  multitude  amazed  at  the  courage  of  thb 
pious  martyr,  and  at  the  fortitude  of  the  whole  race  of  Christ- 
ians, began  to  cry  out  "  Away  with  the  wicked  fellows,  let  Poly- 
carp  be  sought."  A  very  great  tumult  arising  in  consequence 
of  these  outcries,  a  certain  Phrygian,  Uuintus  by  name,  who  had 
recently  come  from  Phrygia,  seeing  the  beasts  and  the  additional 
tortures  threatened,  was  so  overcome  by  fear  and  shaken  in  his 
resolution,  that  he  finally  gave  up  his  salvation.  The  contents  of 
the  aforesaid  epistle,  show  that  this  man  had  frowardly  rushed 
forward  to  the  tribunal  with  others,  and  not  in  a  modest  retiring 
manner ;  and  yet  when  seized,  he  gave  a  manifest  proof  to  all, 
that  it  is  not  proper  for  those  in  this  situation,  to  brave  danger  by 
rushing  blindly  and  rashly  upon  it.  Thus  far,  however,  respect- 
ing these.  But  the  admirable  Polycarp  hearing  these  things,  at  first, 
continued  unmoved,  preserving  his  firm  and  unshaken  mind,  and, 
had  determined  to  remain  there  in  the  city.  But  persuaded  by  the 
entreaties  of  those  around  him,  and  exhorting  him  to  leave  the  city 
secretly,  he  went  forth  to  a  farm  not  far  from  it.  There  he  staid 
with  a  few  friends,  night  and  day,  engaged  in  nothing  but  constant 
prayer  to  the  Lord,  and  imploring  peace  for  all  the  churches 
throughout  the  world.  For  this  had  always  been  his  practice.  In 
this  situation,  three  days  before  he  was  seized,  in  a  vision  at  night, 
and  during  prayer,  the  pillow  under  his  head  seemed  to  him  sud- 
denly to  take  fire,  and  thus  to  be  consumed.  On  this,  waking  out 
of  his  sleep,  he  immediately  began  to  interpret  the  vision  to  those 
present,  almost  fortelling  the  event  that  was  about  to  take  place, 
and  plainly  declaring  to  those  around  him,  that  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary for  him  to  give  up  his  life  in  the  flames  for  Christ's  sake. 
Those,  however,  that  were  in  search  of  him,  making  every  effort  to 
discover  him,  he  was  again  constrained  by  the  aflfection  and  love  of 
the  brethren,  to  go  away  to  another  part  of  the  country.  Thither 
the  pursuers  came  upon  him,  not  long  after,  and  caught  two  boys 
there,  one  of  which  they  scourged  in  order  to  direct  them  to  the 
retreat  of  Polycarp.  Entering  upon  him  at  a  late  hour  of  the 
day,  tliey  found  him,  indeed,  resting  in  an  upper  room,  whence, 
although  he  might  easily  have  escaped  to  another  house,  he 
would  not,  saying :    "  The  Lord's  will  be  done,"  and  having 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  145 

understood  also  that  they  were  come,  as  it  is  said,  he  descended 
and  addressed  the  men  with  a  very  cheerful  and  mild  counte- 
nance, so  that  those  who  did  not  know  him  before,  thought  they 
beheld  a  miracle,  as  they  beheld  the  advanced  age  of  the  man, 
the  gravity  and  firmness  of  his  countenance,  and  were  surprised 
that  so  much  zeal  should  be  exercised  to  seize  a  venerable  old 
man  like  this.  He,  however,  without  hesitation,  ordered  a  table 
to  be  immediately  prepared  for  the  men ;  then  requests  them  to 
partake  of  food  largely,  and  begged  of  them  only  one  hour,  that 
he  might  pray  undisturbed.  As  they  gave  him  permission,  he 
arose  and  prayed,  so  full  of  the  grace  of  the  Lord,  that  those  pre- 
sent who  heard  him  were  amazed,  and  many  of  them  now  re- 
pented, that  so  venerable  and  pious  a  man  should  be  put  to  death. 
Beside  these  things,  the  abovementioned  epistle  respecting  him 
pursues  the  narrative  as  follows  : 

"  But  after  he  had  ended  praying,  and  had  in  this  remembered 
all  that  had  ever  been  connected  with  him,  small  and  great,  noble 
and  obscure,  and  the  whole  catholic  (universal)  church  through- 
out the  world,  when  the  hour  come  for  him  to  go,  they  placed 
him  upon  an  ass  and  conducted  him  to  the  city,  it  being  a  great 
Sabbath-day.*  He  was  met  by  Herod,  who  was  the  irenarch,f 
and  his  father  Nicetes ;  who,  taking  him  hito  their  vehicle,  per- 
suaded him  to  take  a  seat  with  them,  and  said,  "  For  what  harm 
is  there  in  saying  Lord  Cesar,  and  to  sacrifice,  and  thus  save  your 
life  ?"  He,  however,  did  not  at  first  make  any  reply ;  but  as  they 
persevered,  he  said,  "  I  shall  not  do  what  you  advise  me."  Failing, 
therefore,  to  persuade  him,  they  uttered  dreadful  language,  and 
thrust  him  down  from  the  car  with  great  vehemence,  so  that  as 
he  descended  from  the  car  he  sprained  his  thigh.  But  not  at  all 
moved  from  his  purpose,  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  he  eagerly 
went  on,  and  was  conducted  to  the  stadium.  But  as  there  was 
so  great  an  uproar  in  the  place  that  not  many  could  hear,  a  voice 
came  from  heaven  to  Polycarp  as  he  entered  the  stadium :  "  Be 
strong,  Polycarp,  and  contend  manfully."     No  one  saw  who  it 

*  The  great  Sabbath  was  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded the  passover.     Sec  Beverege  in  Can.  Apost. 

■\  The  irenarch,  as  the  name  implies,  was  an  officer  to  preserve  the  public  peace. 

T 


146  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

was  that  spoke ;  but  the  voice  itself  was  heard  by  many  of  our 
brethren.  When  he  was  led  forward,  however,  a  great  tumult 
arose  among  those  that  heard  Polycarp  was  taken.  At  length,  as 
he  advanced,  the  proconsul  asked  him  whetiier  he  was  Polycarp, 
and  he  answering  that  he  was,  he  persuaded  him  to  renounce 
Christ,  saying,  "  Have  a  regard  for  your  age,"  and  adding  similar 
expressions,  such  as  is  usual  for  them  to  s'.y,  he  said,  "  Swear  by 
the  genius  of  Cesar.  Repent ;  say.  Away  with  those  that  deny 
the  gods."  But  Polycarp,  with  a  countenance  grave  and  serious, 
and  contemplating  the  whole  multitude  that  were  collected  in  the 
stadium,  beckoned  with  his  hand  to  them,  and  with  a  sigh  he 
looked  up  to  heaven,  and  said,  *'  Away  with  the  impious."  As  the 
governor,  however,  continued  to  urge  him,  and  said,  "  Swear,  and 
I  will  dismiss  you.  Revile  Christ ;"  Polycarp  replied,  "  Eighty 
and  six  years  have  I  served  him,  and  he  never  did  me  wrong; 
and  how  can  I  now  blaspheme  my  King  that  has  saved  me  ?"  The 
governor  still  continuing  to  urge  him,  and  again  saying,  "  Swear 
by  the  genius  of  Cesar,"  said  Polycarp,  "  If  you  are  so  vain  as  to 
think  that  I  should  swear  by  the  genius  of  Cesar,  as  you  say,  pre- 
tending not  to  know  who  I  am,  hear  my  free  confession.  I  am  a 
Christian.  But  if  you  wish  to  learn  what  the  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity is,  grant  me  a  day  and  listen  to  me."  The  proconsul  said, 
"  Persuade  the  people."  Polycarp  replied,  "  I  have  thought  pro- 
per to  give  you  a  reason ;  for  we  have  been  taught  to  give  magis- 
trates and  powers  appointed  by  God,  the  honour  that  is  due  to 
them,  as  far  as  it  does  not  injure  us;  but  I  do  not  consider  those 
the  proper  ones  before  whom  I  should  deliver  my  defence.  The  pro- 
consul said,  "  I  have  wild  beasts  at  hand,  I  will  cast  you  to  these 
unless  you  change  your  mind."  He  answered,  "  Call  them.  For 
we  have  no  reason  to  repent  from  the  better  to  the  worse,  but  it 
is  good  to  change  from  wickedness  to  virtue."  He  again  urged 
him.  "  I  will  cause  you  to  be  consumed  by  fire,  should  you  de- 
spise the  beasts,  and  not  change  your  mind.  Polycarp  answered, 
"  You  threaten  fire  that  burns  for  a  moment  and  is  soon  extin- 
guished, for  you  know  nothing  of  the  judgment  to  come,  and  the 
fire  of  eternal  punishment  reserved  for  the  wicked.  But  why  do 
you  delay  ?     Bring  what  you  wish."     Saying  these,  and  many 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  147 

other  similar  declarations,  he  was  filled  with  confidence  and  joy, 
and  his  countenance  was  brightened  with  grace.  So  that  he  not 
only  continued  undismayed  at  what  was  said  to  him,  but  on  the 
contrary,  the  governor,  astonished,  sent  the  herald  to  proclaim  in 
the  middle  of  the  stadium,  "  Polycarp  confesses  that  he  is  a  Chris- 
tian." When  this  was  declared  by  the  herald,  all  the  multitude. 
Gentiles  and  Jews  dwelling  at  Smyrna,  cried  out,  "  This  Is  that 
teacher  of  Asia,  the  father  of  the  Christians,  the  destroyer  of  our 
gods ;  he  that  teaches  multitudes  not  to  sacrifice,  not  to  worship." 
Saying  this,  they  cried  out,  and  asked  Philip  the  Asiarch,*  to  let 
loose  a  lion  upon  Polycarp.  But  he  replied,  that  he  was  not  per- 
mitted, as  he  had  already  completed  the  exhibition  of  the  chase 
in  the  amphitheatre.  Then  all  cried  out  together,  that  Polycarp 
should  be  burnt  alive.  For  it  seemsd  necessary  that  the  vision 
which  he  saw  on  his  pillow  should  be  fulfilled ;  when  seeing  it  on 
fire  whilst  he  prayed,  he  turned  to  those  few  faithful  friends  with 
him,  and  said  prophetically,  "  I  must  be  burnt  alive."  These 
things  were  executed,  however,  with  such  haste  that  they  were 
no  sooner  said  than  done.  The  crowd,  however,  forthwith  col- 
lected wood  and  straw  from  the  shops  and  baths,  especially  the 
Jews,  as  usual,  freely  offered  their  services  for  this  purpose.  But 
when  the  pile  was  prepared,  laying  aside  all  his  clothes,  and 
loosing  his  girdle,  he  attempted  also  to  take  off  his  shoes,  which 
he  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  before,  as  he  always  had 
some  one  of  the  brethren,  that  were  soon  at  his  side,  and  rivalled 
each  other  in  their  services  to  him.  For  he  had  always  been 
treated  with  great  respect  on  account  of  his  exemplary  life  even 
before  his  gray  hairs.  Presently  the  instruments  prepared  for  the 
funeral  pile  were  applied  to  him.  As  they  were  also  on  the 
point  of  securing  him  with  spikes,  he  said,  "  let  me  be  thus.  For 
he  that  gives  me  strength  to  bear  the  fire,  will  also  give  me  power 
without  being  secured  by  you  with  these  spikes,  to  remain  un- 
moved on  the  pile."  They,  therefore,  did  not  nail  him,  but  merely 
bound  him  to  the  stake.     But  he,  closing  his  hands  behind  him, 


*  The  Asiarchs  were  the  priests  of  the  assembly  or  common  council  of  Asia, 
■whose  office,  among  others,  was  to  exhibit  the  public  shows  in  the  amphitheatre. 

15* 


148  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  bound  to  the  stake  as  a  noble  victim  selected  from  the  great 
flock,  an  acceptable  sacrifice  to  Almighty  God,  said  :  "  Father  of 
thy  well-beloved  and  blessed  Son  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  we 
have  received  the  knowledge  of  thee.  The  God  of  angels  and 
powers,  and  all  creation,  and  of  all  the  family  of  the  righteous, 
that  live  before  thee,  I  bless  thee  that  thou  hast  thought  me 
worthy  of  the  present  day  and  hour,  to  have  a  share  in  the 
number  of  the  martyrs  and  in  the  cup  of  Christ,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  eternal  life,  both  of  the  soul  and  body,  in  the  incorruptible 
felicity  of  the  holy  Spirit.  Among  whom  may  I  be  received  in 
thy  sight,  this  day,  as  a  rich  and  acceptable  sacrifice  as  thou  the 
faithful  and  true  God  hast  prepared,  hast  revealed  and  fulfilled. 
Wherefore,  on  this  account,  and  for  all  things  I  praise  thee,  I 
bless  thee,  I  glorify  thee,  through  the  eternal  high  priest,  Jesus 
Christ,  thy  well-beloved  Son.  Through  whom  glory  be  to  thee 
with  him  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  both  now  and  for  ever.     Amen." 

After  he  had  repeated  amen,  and  had  finished  his  prayer,  the 
executioners  kindled  the  fire.  And  when  it  arose  in  great  flames, 
we  saw  a  miracle,  those  of  us  who  were  privileged  to  see  it,  and 
who,  therefore,  were  preserved  to  declare  the  facts  to  others.  For 
the  flames  presented  an  appearance  like  an  oven,  as  when  the 
sail  of  a  vessel  is  filled  with  the  wind ;  and  thus  formed  a  wall 
aroiuid  the  body  of  the  martyr.  And  he  was  in  the  midst  not 
like  burning  flesh,  but  like  gold  and  silver  purified  in  the  furnace. 
We  also  perceived  a  fragrant  odour,  Hke  the  fumes  of  incense,  or 
some  other  precious  aromatic  drugs.  At  length  the  wicked  per- 
secutors, seeing  that  the  body  could  not  be  consumed  by  fire, 
commanded  the  executioner  to  draw  near  to  him  and  to  plunge 
his  sword  into  him ;  and  when  he  had  done  this,  such  a  quantity 
of  blood  gushed  forth  that  the  fire  was  extinguished.  So  that 
the  whole  multitude  were  astonished  that  such  a  difference  should 
be  made  between  the  unbehevers  and  the  elect,  of  whom  this 
one,  bishop  of  the  catholic  church  in  Smyrna,  was  the  most  ad- 
mirable, apostolical,  and  prophetical  teacher  of  our  times.  For 
every  word  that  he  uttered,  was  either  fulfilled  or  will  yet  be 
fulfilled.  But  that  envious  and  malignant  adversary,  that  wicked 
enemy  of  all  the  righteous,  seeing  the  lustre  of  his  martyrdom. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  149 

and  his  uniform  walk  and  conversation,  and  him  now  crowned 
with  the  crown  of  immortaUty,  and  bearing  off  the  indisputable 
prize,  had  provided  that  not  even  his  corpse  could  be  obtained  by 
us,  though  many  of  us  eagerly  wished  it,  so  as  to  have  commu- 
nion with  the  sacred  body.  Some,  therefore,  secretly  engaged 
Nicetas,  the  father  of  Herod  and  brother  of  Dalce,  to  go  to  the  go- 
vernor, so  as  not  to  give  the  body,  lest,  said  they,  abandoning  him 
that  was  crucified,  they  should  begin  to  worship  this  one.  And  this 
they  said  on  the  suggestion  and  urging  of  the  Jews,  who  were 
also  watching  and  looking  out  whilst  we  were  preparing  to  take 
him  from  the  fire.  Not  knowing,  however,  that  we  can  never 
abandon  Christ,  who  suffered  for  the  salvation  of  those  that  are 
becoming  saved  from  all  the  world,  nor  even  worship  any  other. 
For  him  we  worship  as  the  Son  of  God;  but  the  martyrs  we  de- 
servedly love  as  the  disciples  and  imitators  of  our  Lord,  on  ac- 
count of  their  exceeding  love  to  their  king  and  master.  Of 
whom  may  we  only  become  true  associates  and  fellow-disciples. 
The  centurion  then  seeing  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jew^s,  placed  him 
in  the  middle,  and  burnt  it  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. Thus,  at  last,  taking  up  his  bones,  more  valuable  than 
precious  stones,  and  more  tried  than  gold,  we  deposited  them 
where  it  was  proper  they  should  be.  There,  also,  as  far  as  we  can, 
the  Lord  will  grant  us  to  collect  and  celebrate  the  natal  day*  of 
his  martyrdom  in  joy  and  gladness,  both  in  commemoration  of 
those  who  finished  their  contest  before,  and  to  exercise  and  pre- 
pare those  that  shall  hereafter."  Such  is  the  account  respecting 
the  blessed  Polycarp,  who,  together  with  the  twelve  from  Phila- 
delphia, was  crowned  a  martyr.  Who,  however,  is  ratlier  men- 
tioned alone  by  all,  so  that  he  is  spoken  of  by  the  Gentiles  in 
every  place.  Of  such  an  end,  then,  was  the  admirable  and 
apostolic  Polycarp  deemed  worthy,  according  to  the  account 
which  the  brethren  in  Smyrna  recorded  in  the  epistle  that  we 
have  quoted.  In  tliis  same  epistle,  also,  respecting  him,  other 
martyrdoms  are  also  recorded,  which  took  place  in  the  same  city, 


•  The  martyrdom  of  Polycarp  is  here  called  his  natal  day,  as  his  birthday  foi 
better  world. 


150  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  about  the  time  of  Polycarp's  death.  Among  these,  also,  was 
Metrodorus,  a  follower  of  Marcion's  error,  but  who  appears  to 
have  been  a  presbyter,  and  who  was  committed  to  the  flames, 
A  very  celebrated  martyr  of  those  times  was  Pionius.  Those 
who  feel  inclined  to  know  respecting  him,  we  refer  to  that  epistle 
that  has  been  imbodied  in  the  work  on  the  ancient  martyrs  col- 
lected by  us,  in  which  is  given  a  very  full  account  of  his  parti- 
cular confessions,  of<  the  freedom  with  which  he  spoke,  of  his 
defence  of  the  faith  before  the  people  and  rulers.  Also  his  in 
structive  exhortations;  moreover  his  strong  invitations  to  those 
that  fell  away  imder  the  temptation  of  persecution,  the  consola- 
tions which  he  presented  to  the  brethren  that  came  in  to  him  in 
prison,  what  excruciating  tortures  he  also  endured  besides,  when 
he  was  secured  with  spikes,  his  firmness  on  the  pile,  and  after  all 
his  extraordinary  sufferings,  his  death.  There  are,  also,  records 
extant  of  others  that  suffered  martyrdom  in  Pergamus,  a  city  of 
Asia.  Of  these  we  mention  only  Carpus  and  Papylus,  and  a 
woman  named  Agathonice ;  who,  after  many  and  illustrious  testi- 
monies given  by  them,  gloriously  finished  their  course. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Hoto  Justin,  the  philosopher,  suffered  martyrdom,  asserting  the 
doctrine  of  Christ. 

About  this  time,  the  same  Justin  who  was  mentioned  by  us  a 
little  before,  after  having  given  a  second  defence  of  our  doc 
trines  to  the  abovementioned  rulers,  was  crowned  with  divine 
martyrdom,  at  the  insidious  instigation  of  Crescens  the  philoso- 
pher, who  was  called  a  cynic,  and  emulated  the  life  and  manner 
indicated  by  the  name  he  bore.  After  having  frequently  refuted 
him  in  discussion,  in  the  presence  of  many  hearers,  he  at  length 
also  bore  away  the  palm  of  victory,  in  the  truth  which  he  assert- 
ed, by  his  own  martyrdom.  It  is  also  plainly  stated  by  the  same 
excellent  and  most  learned  author,  in  the  Apology  already  quoted, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  151 

that  he  predicted  the  issue  just  as  it  was  about  to  happen  in  re- 
ference to  himself,  in  the  following  words ;  "  I  also  expect  to  be 
waylaid  by  some  one  of  those  whom  I  have  named,  and  to  be  put 
to  the  rack,  even  by  Crescens  himself,  that  unphilosophical,  and 
vainglorious  opponent.  For  it  seems  not  proper  to  call  a  man  a 
jDhilosopher,  since  he  publicly  attempts  to  contend  against  mat- 
ters that  he  does  not  understand,  as  if  Christians  were  infidels  and 
wicked  characters,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  captivating  and  grati- 
fying the  multitude.  He  has  done  all  this  under  a  strong  delu- 
sion. For  if  he  counteracts  us  without  having  read  the  doctrines 
of  Christ,  he  is  most  iniquitous  in  his  conduct,  and  much  worse 
than  common  men,  who  for  the  most  part  are  cautious  in  speak- 
ing and  bearing  a  false  testimony  in  matters  that  they  do  not  un- 
derstand ;  and  if  when  happening  to  read,  he  does  not  under- 
stand the  sublimity  in  them,  or  if  understanding,  he  does  those 
things  that  may  lead  one  to  suspect  he  is  not  one  of  them,  (i.  e.)  no 
Christian,  he  is  so  much  the  more  base  and  nefarious,  inasmuch 
as  he  is  enslaved  to  vulgar  applause  and  an  absurd  fear.  And, 
indeed,  when  I  proposed  certain  questions  to  him,  in  order  to  as- 
certain and  convince  him  that  he  really  was  ignorant,  I  would 
beg  leave  to  inform  you,  that  I  found  this  to  be  the  case.  And 
that  you  may  know  all  that  I  here  say  is  true,  if  these  discussions 
have  not  yet  reached  you,  I  am  prepared  to  repeat  these  interro- 
gations in  your  presence.  This,  too,  would  be  a  work  suited  to 
your  majesties.  But  if  these  questions  of  mine,  and  his  answers 
are  known  to  you,  it  is  obvious  to  you,  that  he  knows  nothing  of 
our  doctrines,  or  if  he  knows,  he  does  not  declare  them  on  ac- 
count of  his  hearers ;  so  that,  as  I  before  said,  he  proves  himself 
to  be  not  a  true  lover  of  wisdom,  a  philosopher,  but  a  lover  of 
vainglory.  He,  indeed,  does  not  even  regard  that  excellent  say- 
ing of  Socrates,  viz.  "  that  no  one  is  to  be  preferred  to  truth  :" 
Thus  far  Justin.  But  that  in  consequence  of  his  freedom  against 
Crescens,  he  was  brought  to  his  end,  is  shown  by  Tatian,  a  man 
who  at  first,  as  a  sophist,  taught  the  various  branches  of  litera- 
ture among  the  Greeks,  and  obtained  no  small  celebrity  in  tliem, 
and  who  left  numerous  monuments  of  his  attainments  in  his 
works-     This  he  relates  in  the  book  against  the  Greeks,  thus : 


152  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

"  And  that  most  excellent  Justin,  justly  declared  that  the  afore- 
said persons  were  like  robbers."  Then  after  some  comments  on 
these  philosophers,  he  adds  tiie  following :  "  Crescens  indeed, 
who  had  nestled  in  the  great  city  (Rome,)  surpassed  all  in  his 
unnatural  lust  (naiSspagio)  and  was  also  wholly  enslaved  to  the 
love  of  money.  And  he  who  advised  others  to  despise  death,  was 
nimself  so  much  in  dread  of  death,  that  he  plotted  death  for  Jus- 
tin as  a  very  great  evil.  Because  that  when  proclaiming  the 
truth,  he  proved  the  philosophers  gluttons  and  impostors."  And 
such  was  the  cause  that  produced  the  martyrdom  of  Justin. 


CHAPTER,  XVIII. 

The  martyrs  mentioned  by  Justin  in  Ms  hooks. 

But  the  same  author  before  his  conflict  makes  mention  of 
others  that  suffered  martyrdom  before  him,  in  his  first  Apology 
In  which  he  aptly  introduces  the  following  statement : "  A  certain 
woman,"  says  he,  "  had  a  husband  that  was  intemperate.  She 
herself,  had  also  previously  led  a  dissolute  life  ;  but  after  she 
was  made  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  she  became 
modest,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  her  husband  also  to  lead 
a  virtuous  life,  presenting  to  his  mind  the  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity, and  the  punishment  of  eternal  fire  awaited  those  that  would 
not  live  virtuously,  and  according  to  right  reason.  But  he  still 
continuing  in  the  same  lascivious  habits,  wholly  alienated  his 
wife's  affections  by  his  practices.  Finally,  the  woman  consi- 
dering it  wicked  to  live  with  one  who,  contrary  to  the  law  of  na- 
ture and  propriety,  was  intent  upon  every  course  to  gratify  his 
lusts,  contemplated  a  divorce.  But  when  she  was  encouraged 
by  her  friends,  who  advised  her  still  to  remain  with  him,  as  if 
he  might  give  hopes  of  a  change  of  life,  she  did  violence  to  her- 
self and  remained.  Afterwards,  however,  her  husband,  who  had 
gone  to  Alexandria,  was  reported  to  be  acting  much  worse. 
Fearing,  therefore,  lest  she  should  become  a  sharer  in  his  un- 
righteousness and  impieties,  if  she  continued  united  to  him,  and 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  153 

should  be  his  companion,  she  sent  him  what  is  called  the  bill 
of  divorce,  and  was  separated.  This  good  and  excellent  hus- 
band, however,  who  ought  to  have  rejoiced  that  his  wife,  who 
had  formerly  delighted  in  debauchery  and  all  manner  of  vice, 
had  now  ceased  from  those  deeds  in  which  she  had  formerly- 
been  wantonly  engaged  with  servants  and  hii'elings,  and  that  she 
now  wished  him,  also,  to  cease  from  doing  the  same  things, 
would  not  do  thus,  when  she  left  him,  but  he  brought  an  accu- 
sation against  her,  asserting  that  she  was  a  Christian.  And  she 
delivered  to  you,  the  emperor,  a  petition,  requesting  that  she 
might  first  be  permitted  to  regulate  her  domestic  affairs,  and  then, 
after  the  regulation  of  her  affairs,  she  would  make  her  defence 
in  reference  to  the  accusation.  And  this  you  granted.  But  he, 
who  had  formerly  been  the  husband  of  the  woman,  not  being  able 
to  say  anything  against  her  now,  turned  upon  a  certain  Ptolemy, 
whom  Urbicius  had  punished,  and  who  had  become  her  instructer 
in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  in  the  following  manner. 

He  had  persuaded  the  centurion  *  to  seize  Ptolemy  his  friend, 
and  cast  him  in  prison,  and  to  ask  him  only  this,  whether  he  was 
a  Christian  1  Ptolemy,  who  was  a  lover  of  truth,  and  averse  to 
all  deceit  and  falsehood,  confessed  himself  a  Christian ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  he  was  cast  into  prison,  and  punished  by  the 
centurion  in  this  way  for  a  long  time.  At  last,  when  the  man 
came  before  Urbicius  in  like  matter,  only  this  one  thing  was 
asked,  whether  he  was  a  Christian  ?  And  as  he  was  conscious 
of  deriving  every  happiness  and  blessing  from  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  he  again  professed  the  principles  of  celestial  virtue. — 
For  he  that  denies  that  he  is  a  Christian,  either  denies,  be- 
cause he  despises,  or  because  he  is  conscious  that  he  is  unworthy 
of  this  religion,  and  a  stranger  to  its  excellency;  and  thus  avoids' 
the  confession.  Neither  of  these  things  can  apply  to  the  true 
Christian.  Urbicius,  however,  having  commanded  him  to  be 
led  forth,  a  certain  Lucius,  who  was  also  a  Christian,  seeing  the 
judgment,  so  unjustly  passed,  says  to  Urbicius,  "  What  charge  is 
this,  that  you  should  punish  one  who  is  neither  an  adulterer,  nor 
fornicator,  nor  a  murderer,  nor  a  thief,  nor  a  robber ;  nor  con- 
victed, indeed,  of  any  crime,  but  simply  confessing  the  name  of 
U 


154  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

«,  Christian  ?  O,  Urbicius,  you  do  not  judge  what  becomes  our 
pious  emperor,  nor  the  philosophic  son  of  Cesar,  nor  the  sacred 
senate."  But  without  a-ny  other  reply,  he  said  to  Lucius,  "  Thou 
appearest  also  to  be  one  such  as  these,"  and  as  Lucius  answered 
«  by  all  means,"  he  in  like  manner  commanded  him  to  be  led 
forth.  But  he,  (Lucius,)  said,  he  thanked  him ;  "  for  now,"  he 
added,  "  he  was  liberated  from  wicked  masters,  and  was  going 
to  the  good  Father  and  king,  even  God.  And  a  second  and 
third  coming  up,  were  punished  in  the  same  way."  To  these 
Justin,  next  in  order,  adds  the  passages  that  we  quoted  aboA^e, 
where  he  says :  "  But  I  am  now  waiting  to  be  waylaid  by  a 
certain  one  of  those  called  philosophers,"  &c. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

The  hoolis  of  Justin  that  have  come  down  to  us. 

This  Justin  has  left  us  many  monuments  of  a  mind  well  stored 
■with  learning,  and  devoted  to  sacred  things,  replete  with  matter 
profitable  in  every  respect.  To  these  we  shall  refer  our  studi- 
ous readers,  only  indicating  as  we  proceed,  those  that  have  come 
to  our  knowledge.  There  is  a  discourse  of  his,  addressed  to 
Antonine,  surnamed  the  Pious,  and  his  sons  and  the  Roman  se- 
nate, in  defence  of  our  doctrines.  Another  work,  comprising  a 
defence  of  our  faith,  which  he  addressed  to  the  emperor  of  the 
vsame  name,  Antoninus  Verus,  the  successor  of  the  preceding,  the 
circumstances  of  whose  times  we  are  now  recording.  Also,  ano- 
ther book,  against  the  (rreeks,  in  which,  dilating  upon  most  of  the 
questions  agitated  between  us  and  the  Greek  philosophers,  he 
also  discusses  the  nature  of  daemons ;  of  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  add  anything  here.  There  is  also  another  work,  that  has 
reached  us,  also  against  the  Gentiles,  to  which  he  gave  the  title, 
"  RefnPition."  Besides  these,  also  another,  "  On  the  Sovereignty/ 
of  God,''  which  he  establishes  not  only  by  the  holy  Scriptures, 
but  also  by  references  to  the  works  of  the  Greeks.     Moreover 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  155 

he  wrote  a  work  called  Psaltes,  (the  psalmist,)  another,  also  con- 
sisting of  Remarks  on  the  Soul,  in  which,  after  proposing  vari- 
ous questions  on  the  subject,  he  adds  the  opinions  that  prevailed 
among  the  Greek  philosophers,  which  he  also  promises  to  dis- 
prove, and  to  give  his  own  opinion  in  a  separate  work.  He  also 
wrote  a  dialogue  against  the  Jews,  which  he  held  at  Ephesus 
with  Tryphon,  the  most  distinguished  among  the  Hebrews  of  the 
day.  In  this  he  shows  how  the  Divine  grace  stimulated  him  to 
this  discourse  on  the  faith,  what  zeal  also  he  had  before  evinced 
in  the  studies  of  philosophy,  and  what  indefatigable  research  he 
had  applied  in  the  discovery  of  the  truth.  In  this  also  he  states 
respecting  the  Jews,  how  insidiously  they  plotted  against  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  and  addresses  the  following  words  to  Tryphon : 
"  But  you  do  not  only  continue  impenitent  for  your  evil  deeds, 
but  selecting  chosen  men,  you  sent  them  from  Jerusalem  to  all 
the  world,  declaring  that  the  infidel  sect  of  Christians  had  made 
its  appearance,  and  uttering  all  those  falsehoods  against  us  which 
those  that  know  us  not  are  accustomed  to  repeat.  Thus  you  are 
the  causes  of  iniquity  not  only  to  yourselves  but  to  all  others 
also."  He  writes  also,  that  even  down  to  liis  time,  gifts  of  pro- 
phecy shone  forth  in  the  church ;  mentions  also,  the  Revelation 
of  John,  plainly  calling  it  the  work  of  the  apostle,  and  records 
also,  certain  prophetic  declarations,  in  his  discussion  with  Try- 
phon, and  showing  that  the  Jews  had  expunged  them  from  the 
Scriptures.  There  are  also  many  other  works  of  his  in  the 
hands  of  many  of  our  brethren.  So  valuable  and  worthy  of 
study  were  these  works  esteemed  by  the  ancients,  that  Irenaeus 
quotes  him  often.  This  he  does  in  the  fourth  book  against 
heresies,  adding  the  words :  "  And  well  does  Justin,  in  liis 
work  against  Marcion,  say :  '  I  would  not  even  believe  the  Lord 
himself,  if  he  were  to  announce  any  other  God  but  the  Creator.'  " 
And  in  the  fifth  book,  he  says :  "  And  well  did  Justin  say,  that  be- 
fore the  appearance  of  our  Lord,  Satan  never  ventured  to  blas- 
pheme God,  because  he  did  not  yet  know  his  own  condemnation." 
These  we  deemed  necessary  to  state,  in  order  to  stimulate  the 
studious  likewise  to  the  diligent  perusal  of  these  books,  xind 
thus  much  respecting  Justin. 
16 


156  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Those  that  presided  ov^er  the  churches  of  Rome  and  Alexandria, 
in  the  reign  of  Verus. 

It  was  in  the  eighth  year  of  the  abovementioned  reign,  viz., 
that  of  Verus,  that  Anicetus,  who  had  held  the  episcopate  of 
Rome  for  eleven  years,  was  succeeded  by  Soter ;  but  at  Alexan- 
dria, Celadion,  who  had  presided  over  the  church  fourteen  years, 
was  succeeded  by  Agrippinus. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  bishops  of  Antioch. 


At  this  time,  also,  Theophilus  in  the  church  of  Antioch,  was 
well  known  as  the  sixth  in  succession  from  the  apostles.  As 
Cornelius,  who  succeeded  Heron,  had  been  the  fourth  of  those 
that  presided  there,  and  after  him  Eros,  the  fifth  in  order  that 
held  the  episcopate. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  ecclesiastical  ivriters  that  flourished  in  these  times. 

About  this  time  flourished  Hegesippus,  whom  we  quoted  above. 
Also  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth,  and  Pinytus,  bishop  of  Crete. 
Moreover,  Philip  and  Apollinaris  and  Melito.  Musanus,  also, 
and  Modestus,  and,  lastly,  Irenseus,  whose  correct  views  of  the 
sound  faith  have  descended  to  us  in  the  works  written  by  them, 
as  they  received  it  from  apostolic  tradition. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  157 

CHAPTEPv    XXII. 

Of  Hegesippus,  and  those  ichom  he  mentions. 

Hegesippus,  indeed,  in  the  five  books  of  commentaries  that  have 
come  down  to  us,  has  left  a  most  complete  record  of  his  own 
views.  In  these  he  states  that  he  conversed  with  most  of  the 
bishops  when  he  travelled  to  Rome,  and  that  he  received  the 
same  doctrine  from  all.  We  may  also  add  what  he  says,  after 
some  observations  on  the  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians : 
"  And  the  church  of  Corinth,"  says  he,  "  continued  in  the  true 
faith,  until  Primus  was  bishop  there.  With  whom  I  had  familiar 
conversation  (as  I  passed  many  days  at  Corinth,)  when  I  was 
on  the  point  of  sailing  to  Rome,  during  which  time  also,  we  were 
mutually  refreshed  in  the  true  doctrine.  After  coming  to  Rome, 
I  made  my  stay  with  Anicetus,  whose  deacon  was  Eleutherus. 
After  Anicetus,  Soter  succeeded,  and  after  him  Eleutherus.  In 
every  succession,  however,  and  in  every  city,  the  doctrine  prevails 
according  to  what  is  declared  by  the  law  and  the  prophets  and  the 
Lord."  The  same  author,  also,  treats  of  the  beginnings  of  the  here- 
sies that  arose  about  his  time,  in  the  following  words:  "But  after 
James  the  Just  had  suffered  martyrdom,  as  our  Lord  had  for  the 
same  reason,  Simeon,  the  son  of  Cleophas  our  Lord's  uncle,  was 
appointed  the  second  bishop,  whom  all  proposed,  as  the  cousin  of 
our  Lord.  Hence  they  called  the  church  as  yet  a  virgin,  for  it  was 
not  yet  corrupted  by  vain  discourses.  Thebuthis  made  a  begin- 
ning secretly  to  corrupt  it,  on  account  of  his  not  being  made 
bishop.  He  was  one  of  those  seven  sects  among  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple. Of  these,  also,  was  Simeon,  whence  sprung  the  sect  of  Si- 
monians;  also,  Cleobius,  from  whom  came  the  Cleobians;  also, 
Dositheus,  the  founder  of  the  Dositheans.  From  these  also 
sprung  the  Gorthoeonians,  from  Gorthceus,  and  the  Masbothceans, 
from  Masbotheus.  Hence,  also,  the  Menandrians,  and  Marcion- 
ists,  and  Carpocratians,  and  Valentinians,  and  Basilidians,  and 
the  Saturnilians,  every  one  introducing  his  own  peculiar  opinions, 
one  differing  from  the  other.     From  these  sprung  the  false  Christs 


158  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  false  prophets  and  false  apostles,  who  divided  the  unity  of  the 
church,  by  the  introduction  of  corrupt  doctrines  against  God  and 
against  his  Christ."  The  same  author  also  mentions  in  his  histo- 
ry, the  ancient  heresies  prevalent  among  the  Jews,  as  follows : 
"  There  were  also,  different  opinions  in  tlie  circumcision  among 
the  children  of  Israel,  against  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the  Mes- 
siah, viz.,  the  Essenes,  the  GalileanSj  Hemerobaptists,  the  Mas- 
bothceans,  the  Samaritans,  the  Sadducees  and  Pharisees."  He  also 
speaks  of  many  other  matters,  which  we  have  in  part  already 
quoted,  and  introduced  in  their  appropriate  places.  He  also 
states  some  particulars  from  the  gospel  of  the  Hebrews  and  from 
the  Syriac,  and  particularly  from  the  Hebrew  language,  showing 
that  he  himself  was  a  convert  from  the  Hebrews.  Other  matters 
he  also  records  as  taken  from  the  unwritten  tradition  of  the 
Jews.  And  not  only  he,  but  Irenaeus  also,  and  the  whole  body 
of  the  ancients,  called  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  "  Wisdom, 
comprehending  every  virtue."  Also  in  discoursing  on  the  books 
called  Apocrypha,  he  relates  that  some  of  them  were  forged  in 
his  day,  by  some  of  the  heretics.  But  it  is  now  time  to  proceed 
to  another. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Of  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth,  and  his 

And  first  we  must  speak  of  Dionysius,  who  was  appointed 
over  the  church  at  Corinth,  and  imparted  freely,  not  only  to  his 
own  people,  but  to  others  abroad  also,  the  blessings  of  his  divine 
labours.  But  he  was  most  useful  to  all  in  the  catholic  epistles 
that  he  addressed  to  the  churches.  One  of  which  is  addressed 
to  the  Lacedasmonians,  and  contains  instructions  in  the  true  re- 
ligion, and  inculcates  peace  and  unity.  One  also  to  the  Atheni- 
ans, exciting  them  to  the  faith,  and  the  life  prescribed  by  the 
gospel,  from  which  he  shows  that  they  had  swerved,  so  that  they 
had  nearly  fallen  from  the  truth,  since  the  martyrdom  of  PubHus, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  159 

then  bishop,  which  happened  in  the  persecutions  of  those  times. 
He  also  makes  mention  of  Quadratus,  who  was  bishop  after  the 
martyrdom  of  Pubhus,  bearing  witness  also  that  the  church  was 
again  collected,  and  the  faith  of  the  people  revived  by  his  exer- 
tions. He  states,  moreover,  that  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  who 
was  converted  to  the  faith  by  Paul  the  apostle,  according  to  the 
statement  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  first  obtained,  the  episcopate 
of  the  church  at  Athens.  There  is  also  another  epistle  of  his  ex- 
tant, addressed  to  the  Nicomedians,  in  which  he  refutes  the  he- 
resy of  Marcion  and  adheres  closely  to  the  rule  of  faith.  In  an 
epistle  to  the  church  of  Gortyna,  and  to  the  other  churches  in 
Crete,  he  commends  their  bishop  Philip,  for  the  numerous  in- 
stances of  fortitude  that  the  church  evinced  under  him,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  all,  whilst  he  cautions  them  against  the  per- 
versions of  the  heretics.  He  also  wrote  to  the  church  at  Amas- 
tris,  together  v.'ith  those  at  Pontus,  in  which  he  makes  mention 
of  Bacchylides  and  Elpistus,  as  those  who  urged  him  to  write.  He 
also  adds  some  expositions  of  the  sacred  writings,  where  he  in- 
timates that  Palmas  was  then  bishop.  He  also  recommends  many 
things  in  regard  to  marriage,  and  the  purity  to  be  observed  by 
those  who  enter  this  state,  and  enjoins  upon  the  church  to  re- 
ceive again  kindly  all  that  return  again  from  any  fall ;  whether 
of  heresy  or  delinquency.  Among  them  is  also  inserted  an  epistle 
to  the  Gnossians,  in  which  he  admonishes  Pinytus,  the  bishop  of 
the  church,  not  to  impose  upon  the  brethren  without  necessity,  a 
burden  in  regard  to  purity  too  great  to  be  borne,  but  to  pay  regard 
to  the  infirmity  of  the  great  mass.  To  which  Pinytus,  writing 
in  reply,  admires  and  applauds  Dionysius,  but  exhorts  him  at  the 
same  time  to  impart  some  time  or  other  stronger  food,  and  to 
feed  the  people  under  him  with  writings  abounding  in  more  per- 
fect doctrine  when  he  wrote  again,  so  that  they  might  not  re- 
main constantly  nurtured  with  milky  doctrine,  and  impercepti- 
bly grow  old,  under  a  discipline  calculated  only  for  children.  In 
which  epistle,  also,  the  correct  views  which  Pinytus  cherished, 
and  his  solicitude  respecting  the  welfare  of  those  that  were  com- 
mitted to  his  care,  also  his  learning  and  intelligence  in  divine  mat- 
ters is  exhibited  as  in  a  most  perfect  image.  There  is  yet  another 
16* 


160  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

epistle  ascribed  to  Dionysius,  to  the  Romans,  and  addressed  to 
Soter  the  bishop  of  that  city,  from  which  we  may  also  subjoin 
some  extracts,  viz.,  from  that  part  where  he  commends  a  practice 
of  the  Romans  retained  even  to  the  persecution  in  our  day,  and 
writes  as  follows :  "  For  this  practice  has  prevailed  with  you 
from  the  very  beginning,  to  do  good  to  all  the  brethren  in  every 
way,  and  to  send  contributions  to  many  churches  in  every  city. 
Thus  refreshing  the  needy  in  their  want,  and  furnishing  to  the 
brethren  condemned  to  the  mines,  what  was  necessary,  by  these 
contributions  which  ye  have  been  accustomed  to  send  from  the  be- 
ginning, you  preserve,  as  Romans,  the  practices  of  your  ancestors 
the  Romans.  Which  was  not  only  observed  by  your  bishop  Soter, 
but  also  increased,  as  he  not  only  furnished  great  supplies  to  the 
saints,  but  also  encouraged  the  brethren  that  came  from  abroad, 
as  a  loving  father  his  children,  with  consolatory  words."  In  this 
same  letter  he  mentions  that  of  Clement  to  the  G)rinthians,  show- 
ing that  it  was  the  practice  to  read  it  in-  the  churches,  even  from 
the  earliest  times.  "  To-day,"  says  he,  "  we  have  passed  the 
Lord's  holy  day,  in  which  we  have  read  your  epistle.  In  read- 
ing which  we  shall  always  have  our  minds  stored  with  admoni- 
tion, as  we  shall,  also,  from  that  written  to  us  before  by  Cle- 
ment." Besides  this,  the  same  author  writes  respecting  his  own 
epistles  as  having  been  corrupted :  "  As  the  brethren,"  says  he, 
"  desired  me  to  write  epistles,  I  wrote  them,  and  these  the  apos- 
tles of  the  devil  have  filled  with  tares,  exchanging  some  things, 
and  adding  others,  for  whom  there  is  a  wo  reserved.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  matter  of  wonder,  if  some  have  also  attempted  to  adul- 
terate the  sacred  writings  of  the  Lord,  since  they  have  attempted 
the  same  in  other  works  that  are  not  to  be  compared  with  these." 
There  is  also  another  epistle  attributed  to  this  Dionysius,  address- 
ed to  his  most  faithful  sister  Chrysophora,  in  which  he  writes 
what  was  suitable  to  her,  and  imparts  also  to  her  the  proper 
spiritual  food.     And  thus  much  respecting  Dionysius. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  161 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Of  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch. 

There  are  three  books  containing  the  elements  of  the  faith; 
addressed  to  Autolycus,  which  are  ascribed  to  Theophiki^,  whom 
we  have  mentioned  as  bisliop  of  Antioch.  Another,  also,  which 
has  the  title,  "  Against  the  heresy  of  Hermogenis  ;"  in  which  he 
makes  use  of  testimony  from  the  Revelation  of  John,  besides  cer- 
tain other  catechetical  works.  And  as  the  heretics,  no  less  then, 
than  at  any  other  time,  were  like  tares  destroying  the  pure  seed 
of  the  apostoUcal  doctrines,  the  pastors  of  the  churches  every 
where  hastened  to  restrain  them  as  wild  beasts  from  the  fold  of 
Christ.  Sometimes  they  did  it  by  their  exhortations  and  admo- 
nitions to  the  brethren,  sometimes  more  openly  contending  with 
the  heretics  themselves,  by  oral  discussions  and  refutations,  and 
then  again  confuting  their  opinions,  by  the  most  rigid  proofs  in 
their  written  works. 

Theophilus,  therefore,  with  others,  also  contended  against  these, 
as  is  manifest  from  a  work  of  no  mean  character,  written  by  him 
against  Marcion,  which,  together  with  others  that  we  have  men- 
tioned, is  still  preserved.  He  was  succeeded  by  Maximinus,  the 
seventh  from  the  apostles  in  the  church  of  Antioch. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Of  Philip  and  Modestus. 


Philip,  also,  who  we  have  seen  from  the  words  of  Dionysius, 
was  bishop  of  the  church  at  Gortyna,  has  written  a  very  elabo- 
rate work  against  Marcion.  Irenajus,  ailso,  and  Modestus,  the  last 
of  whom  beyond  all  others,  has  detected-  the  error  of  the  man, 
and  exposed  it  to  the  view  of  all.  Many  others  have  also  writ- 
ten, whose  labours  are  carefully  preserved  by  the  brethren  even 
to  this  day. 

X 


162  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

OfMeliio,  and  the  circumstances  he  records. 

In  these  times,  also  flourished  Mehto,  bishop  of  the  church  in 
Sardis,  and  Apollinaris,  the  bishop  of  HierapoHs.  Each  of  these 
separately  addressed  discourses  as  apologies  for  the  faith,  to  the 
existing  emperor  of  the  Romans,  already  mentioned.  Of  these, 
those  that  follow  below,  are  those  that  have  come  to  our  know- 
ledge. Of  Melito,  two  works  On  the  Passover,  and  those.  On  the 
Conduct  of  Life,  arid  the  Prophets.  One,  On  the  Church,  and  ano- 
ther discourse.  On  the  Lord's-day.  One,  also.  On  the  Nature  of 
Man,  and  another  On  his  Formation.  A  work  On  the  Subjection 
of  the  Senses  to  Faith.  Besides  these,  a  treatise  On  the  Soul,  the 
Body,  and  the  Mind.  A  dissertation  also,  On  Baptism ;  one  also, 
on  Truth,  and  Faith,  and  the  Generation,  of  Christ.  His  discourse 
On  Prophecy,  and  that  On  Hospitality.  A  treatise  called  The  Key, 
his  works  On  the  Devil,  and  The  Revelation  of  John.  The  treatise 
On  the  Incarnate  God.  And  last  of  all,  the  discourse  addressed 
to  Antonine.  In  the  work  on  the  passover,  he  shows  the  time 
in  which  he  wrote  it,  beginning  with  these  words :  "  When  Ser- 
vilius  Paulus  was  proconsul  of  Asia,  says  he,  at  which  time  Sa- 
garis  suffered  martyrdom,  there  was  much  discussion  in  Laodi- 
cea,  respecting  the  passover,  which  occurred  at  that  time  in  its 
proper  season,  and  in  which,  also,  these  works  were  written." 
This  work  is  also  mentioned  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  his 
own  work  on  the  passover,  which,  he  says,  he  wrote  on  occasion 
of  Melito's  work.  But  in  the  book  addressed  to  the  emperor,  he 
relates  the  following  transactions  against  those  of  our  faith,  under 
this  emperor.  "  What,  indeed,  says  he,  never  before  happened, 
the  race  of  the  pious  is  now  persecuted,  driven  about  in  Asia,  by 
new  and  strange  decrees.  For  the  shameless  informers,  and 
those  that  crave  the  property  of  others,  taking  occasion  from  the 
edicts  of  the  emperors,  openly  perpetrate  robbery ;  night  and  day 
plundering  those  who  are  guilty  of  no  crime."  And  afterwards 
he  says,  "  and  if  these  things  are  done  by  your  orders  let  them  be 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  1G3 

• 

done  at  least  In  a  proper  way.  For  a  just  ruler  should  never 
form  unjust  decrees.  We,  indeed,  cheerfully  bear  the  reward  of 
such  a  death,  but  we  only  urge  upon  you  this  request,  that  you 
yourself  would  first  take  cognisance  of  these  plotters  of  mischief, 
and  justly  judge,  whether  they  deserve  death  and  punishment,  or 
safety  and  security.  But  if  this  decree,  and  this  unheard  of  or- 
dinance, which  ought  not  be  tolerated  even  against  barbarous 
enemies,  have  not  proceeded  from  you,  so  much  the  more  do  we 
entreat  you  not  to  overlook  us  in  the  midst  of  this  lawless  plun- 
der of  the  populace."  After  a  few  other  remarks,  he  adds,  "  The 
philosophy  which  we  profess,  first  indeed,  flourished  among  the 
barbarians,  but  afterwards,  when  it  grew  up,  also  among  the  na- 
tions under  your  government;  under  the  glorious  reign  of  Augus- 
tus your  ancestor,  it  became,  especially  to  your  reign,  an  auspi- 
cious blessing.  For  since  that  time,  the  Roman  power  has  grown 
in  greatness  and  splendour.  Whose  desired  successor  you  have 
become,  and  will  be,  together  with  your  son,  if  you  preserve  that 
philosophy  which  has  been  nurtured  with  the  empire,  which  com- 
menced its  existence  with  Augustus,  and  which  also  your  ances- 
tors did  honour,  with  other  religions ;  and  one  of  the  greatest 
evidences,  that  our  doctrine  flourished,  to  the  advantage  of  a 
reign  so  happily  begun,  is  this  :  that  there  has  nothing  disastrous 
occurred  to  the  empire,  since  the  reign  of  Augustus ;  on  the  con- 
trary, all  things  have  proceeded  splendidly  and  gloriously  accord- 
ing to  the  wishes  of  all.  Nero,  and  Domitian,  alone,  stimulated 
by  certain  malicious  persons,  showed  a  disposition  to  slander  our 
faith.  Fi'om  whom  it  has  happened,  also,  that  this  falsehood  re- 
specting Christians  has  been  propagated  by  an  absurd  practice  of 
waylaying  and  informing.  But  your  pious  fathers  corrected  what 
was  done  by  the  ignorance  of  those,  by  frequently  reproving  many 
in  wa'iting,  as  many  as  dared  to  attempt  any  innovations  against 
those  of  our  religion.  Your  grandfather  Adrian,  evidently  wrote, 
among  others,  to  Fundanus  the  proconsul  of  Asia.  But  your 
father,  also,  when  you  held  the  government  with  him,  wrote  to 
the  cities,  forbidding  any  strange  movements  against  us.  Among 
these  were  the  ordinances  to  the  Larissa3ans,  to  the  Thessaloni- 
ans,  and  Athenians,  and  all  the  Greeks.     But  as  you  cherish  the 


164  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

same  opinion  on  these  matters  with  those,  and,  indeed,  have  still 
more  benevolent  and  more  philosophical  views,  we  are  so  much 
the  more  confident  you  will  do  what  we  entreat."  This  passage 
is  given  in  the  discourse  beforementioned.  But  in  the  selections 
made  by  him,  the  same  writer  in  the  beginning  of  his  preface, 
gives  a  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  acknow- 
ledged as  canonical.  This  we  have  thought  necessary  to  give 
here,  literally  as  follows : 

"  Melito  sends,  greeting,  to  his  brother  Onesimus,  as  you  have 
frequently  desired  in  your  zeal  for  the  Scriptures,  that  I  should 
make  selections  for  you,  both  from  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
respecting  our  Saviour,  and  our  whole  faith;  and  you  were, 
moreover,  desirous  of  having  an  exact  statement  of  the  Old 
Testament,  how  many  in  number,  and  in  what  order  the  books 
were  written,  I  have  endeavoured  to  perform  this.  For  I 
know  your  zeal  in  the  faith,  and  your  great  desire  to  acquire 
knowledge,  and  that  especially  by  the  love  of  God,  you  prefer 
these  matters  to  all  others,  thus  striving  to  gain  eternal  life. 
When,  therefore,  I  went  to  the  east,  and  came  as  far  as  the 
place  where  these  things  were  proclaimed  and  done,  I  ac- 
curately ascertained  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
send  them  to  thee  here  below.  The  names  are  as  follows:  Of 
Moses,  five  books,  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  JVumbers,  Deutero- 
nomy. Jesus  JVave,  Judges,  Ruth.  Four  of  Kings.  Two  of  Pa- 
ralipomena,  (Chronicles,)  Psalms  of  David,  Proverbs  of  Solomon, 
which  is  also  called  Wisdom,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Songs,  Job. 
Of  prophets,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah.  Of  the  twelve  prophets,  one 
book.  Daniel,  Ezeldel,  Esdras.  From  these  I  have,  therefore, 
made  the  selections  which  I  have  divided  into  six  books."  Thus 
much  of  Melito's  writings. 


m 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  165 

CHAPTER   XXVIL 

Of  Apollinaris  bishop  of  Hierapolis. 

Although  there  are  many  works  of  Apollinaris  preserved  by 
many,  those  that  have  reached  us  are  the  following :  An  Apo- 
logy, addressed  to  the  abovementioned  emperor,  and  jive  books 
against  the  Greeks.  Two  books  on  Truth,  two  also  against  the  Jeics, 
and  those  that  he  afterwards  wrote  against  the  Heresy  of  the 
Phrygians,  which  was  revived  not  long  after.  Then,  indeed, 
also  began  as  it  were  to  spring  up,  the  sect  of  Montanus,  who, 
with  his  false  prophetesses,  laid  the  foundation  of  their  errors. 
Thus  much,  however,  may  suffice,  also,  concerning  this  author. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Of  Musanus  and  his  works. 


MusANus,  also,  whom  we  have  mentioned  among  the  foregoing 
authors,  is  said  to  have  written  a  very  elegant  work  addressed  to 
certain  brethren,  who  had  swerved  from  the  truth  to  the  heresy 
of  the  Encratites,  which  had  even  then  made  its  appearance,  and 
which  introduced  a  singular  and  pernicious  error  into  the  world. 
The  founder  of  this  singularity  is  said  to  have  been  Tatianus. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  heresy  of  Tatianus. 


He  is  the  same  whose  words  we  adduced  before  in  re- 
ference to  the  excellent  Justin,  mentioning  that  he  was  also  the 
disciple  of  that  martyr.  This  is  shown  by  Irenaeus,  in  the  first 
book  against  heresies,  where  he  writes  both  respecting  the  man 
and  against  his  heresy :  "  Those,"  says  he,  "  that  sprung  from  Sa- 


166  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

turninus  and  Marcion,  called  the  Encratites,  proclaimed  absti 
nence  from  marriage,  setting  aside  the  original  design  of  God, 
and  tacitly  censuring  him  that  made  male  and  female  for  the 
propagation  of  the  human  race.  They  also  introduced  the  ab- 
stinence from  things  called  animate  with  them,  displaying  in- 
gratitude to  God  who  made  all  things.  They  also  deny  the  sal- 
vation of  our  first  parents.  And  this  has  been  but  lately  discovered 
by  them,  a  certain  Tatian  being  the  first  that  taught  the  horrible 
doctrine.  This  man,  who  had  been  a  hearer  of  Justin,  as  long 
as  he  was  in  company  with  him,  exhibited  nothing  like  this,  but 
after  his  martyrdom,  having  apostatized  from  the  church,  and 
elated  with  the  conceit  of  a  teacher,  and  vainly  puiTed  up  as  if 
he  surpassed  all  others,  he  established  a  peculiar  characteristic 
of  his  own  doctrine,  by  inventing  certain  invisible  iEons,  similar 
to  those  of  Valentinus.  Marriage,  also,  he  asserted,  with  Marcion 
and  Saturninus,  was  only  corruption  and  fornication.  And  he 
also  devised  arguments  of  his  own  against  tjhe  salvation  of  Adam." 
Thus  far  Irenaeus  then.  A  little  after,  however,  a  certain  man 
by  the  name  of  Severus,  having  strengthened  the  abovemention- 
ed  heresy,  became  the  cause  of  another  sect,  called  after  himself, 
the  Severians.  These  indeed,  make  use  of  the  law  and  prophets 
and  gospels,  giving  a  peculiar  interpretation  to  the  passages  of 
the  sacred  writings,  but  abuse  Paul  the  apostle,  and  set  aside  his 
epistles ;  neither  do  they  receive  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But 
their  chief  and  founder  Tatianus,  having  formed  a  certain  body 
and  collection  of  gospels,  I  know  not  how,  has  given  this  the  title, 
Diatessaron,  that  is  the  gospel  by  the  four,  or  the  gospel  formed 
of  the  four ;  which  is  in  the  possession  of  some  even  now.  It 
is  also  said  that  he  dared  to  alter  certain  expressions  of  the  apos- 
tles, in  order  to  correct  the  composition  of  the  phrase.  He  has 
also  left  a  great  multitude  of  writings,  of  which  the  most  noted 
among  all,  is  that  work  against  the  Greeks,  in  which,  as  he  re- 
cords ancient  times,  he  proves  Moses  and  the  prophets  are  more 
ancient  than  all  the  celebrated  writers  among  the  Greeks.  This 
book,  indeed,  appears  to  be  the  most  elegant  and  profitable  of  all 
his  works.     And  so  much  for  these. 


-i 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  167 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Of  Bardesanes,  the  Syrian,  and  the  works  of  his  extant. 

Under  the  same  reign,  also,  as  heresies  abounded  in  the  country 
between  the  rivers  (Mesopotamia,)  lived  one  Bardesanes;  a  man 
of  very  great  abilities,  and  a  powerful  disputant  in  the  Syriac 
tongue.  This  man  composed  dialogues  against  Marcion  and 
certain  others  of  different  opinions,  and  committed  them  to  writ- 
ing in  his  native  language,  together  with  many  other  works. 
These  were  translated  from  the  Syriac  into  the  Greek,  by  his 
friends ;  for  as  a  powerful  assertor  of  the  word,  he  had  many 
followers.  Among  these  there  is  a  most  able  dialogue  On  Fatey 
addressed  to  Antonine.  Many  others  also,  he  is  said  to  have 
written  on  occasion  of  the  persecution  which  then  arose.  He  was 
at  first  indeed  a  disciple  of  Valentine,  but  afterwards,  rejecting 
his  doctrine,  and  having  refuted  most  of  his  fictions,  he  appeared 
somehow  to  himself  to  have  returned  again  to  the  more  correct 
opinion.  But  he  did  not  entirely  wipe  away  the  filth  of  his  old 
heresy.  About  this  time,  also,  died  Soter,  bishop  of  the  church 
at  Rome. 

17 


BOOK  V. 


PRELIMINARY 


SoTER,  bishop  of  Rome,  died,  after  having  held  the  episcopate 
eight  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  Eleutherus  the  tvvelfth  in  order 
from  the  apostles.  It  was  also  the  seventeenth  year  of  the  reign 
of  the  emperor  Antoninus  Verus,  when  a  more  violent  persecution 
having  broken  out  against  our  brethren,  in  certain  parts,  occa- 
sioned by  insurrections  in  the  cities,  it  is  probable  that  innume- 
rable martyrs  obtained  the  crown  of  eminence  in  the  conflict,  from 
the  events  that  happened  in  a  single  nation.  These,  as  worthy  of 
imperishable  remembrance,  were  also  handed  down  to  posterity  in 
historical  records.  The  full  account  of  these  is  given  in  our  history 
of  martyrs,  comprising  not  only  historical  narrative,  but  that  which 
may  contribute  to  edification.  But  whatsoever  may  have  a  re- 
ference to  our  present  purpose,  I  shall  here  select  for  the  present. 
Others,  indeed,  that  compose  historical  narratives,  would  record 
nothing  but  victories  in  battle,  the  trophies  of  enemies,  the  war- 
like achievements  of  generals,  the  bravery  of  soldiers,  sullied 
with  blood  and  innumerable  murders,  for  the  sake  of  children 
and  country  and  property.  But  our  narrative  embraces  that 
conversation  and  conduct  which  is  acceptable  to  God.  The  wars 
and  conflicts  of  a  most  pacific  character,  whose  ultimate  tendency 
is  to  establish  the  peace  of  the  soul.  Those,  also,  that  have  man- 
fully contended  for  the  truth,  rather  than  for  their  country,  and 
who  have  struggled  for  piety  rather  than  their  dearest  friends. 
Such  as  these  our  narrative  would  engrave  on  imperishable 
monuments.  The  firmness  of  the  champions  for  the  true  religion, 
their  fortitude  in  the  endurance  of  innumerable  trials,  their  tro- 
phies erected  over  da^moniacal  agency,  and  their  victories  over 
their  invisible  antagonists,  and  the  crowns  that  have  been  placed 
upon  all  these,  it  would  proclaim  and  perpetuate  by  an  everlast 
ing  remembrance. 

168 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  169 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  number  and  sufferings  of  those  that  suffered  for  the  faith  in 
Gaul. 

Gaul  was  the  place  where  the  arena  was  prepared  for  the 
abovementioned  conflict.  Of  these  the  two  distinguished  capi- 
tals are  celebrated  as  surpassing  all  the  rest,  viz.,  Lyons  and 
Vienna.  Through  both  of  these  the  river  Rhone  passes,  travers- 
ing the  whole  region  with  a  mighty  stream.  The  account,  how- 
ever, of  the  martyrs,  was  sent  by  the  most  illustrious  churches 
there,  to  those  of  Asia  and  Phrygia,  by  whom  the  events  that 
took  place  among  them,  are  related  in  the  following  manner — 1 
will  subjoin  their  own  declarations :  "  The  servants  of  Christ 
dwelling  at  Lyons  and  Vienna,  in  Gaul,  to  those  brethren  in  Asia 
and  Phrygia,  having  the  same  faith  and  hope  with  us,  peace  and 
grace  and  glory  from  God  the  Father  and  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
Then,  premising  some  other  matters,  they  commence  their  subject 
in  the  following  words : 

"  The  greatness,  indeed,  of  the  tribulation,  and  the  extent  of 
the  madness  exhibited  by  the  heathen  against  the  saints,  and  the 
sufferings  which  the  martyrs  endured  in  this  country,  we  are  not 
able  fully  to  declare,  nor  is  it,  indeed,  possible  to  describe  them. 
For  the  adversary  assailed  us  with  his  whole  strength,  giving  us 
already  a  prelude,  how  unbridled  his  future  movements  among  us 
would  be.  And,  indeed,  he  resorted  to  every  means,  to  accus- 
tom and  exercise  his  own  servants  against  those  of  God,  so  that 
we  should  not  only  be  excluded  from  houses,  and  baths,  and  mar- 
kets, but  every  thing  belonging  to  us  was  prohibited  from  appear- 
ing in  any  place  whatever.  But  the  grace  of  God  contended  for 
us,  and  rescued  the  weak,  and  prepared  those  who,  like  firm  pil- 
lars, were  able  through  patience,  to  sustain  the  whole  weight  of 
the  enemy's  violence  against  them.  These  coming  in  close  con- 
flict, endured  every  species  of  reproach  and  torture.  Esteeming 
what  was  deemed  great,  but  little,  they  hastened  to  Christ,  show- 
ing in  reality,  "  that  the  sufferings  of  this  time  are  not  worthy  to 
Y 


170  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  In  us."  And 
first,  tiiey  nobly  sustained  all  the  evils  that  were  heaped  upon 
them  by  the  populace,  clamours,  and  blows,  plundering  and  rob- 
beries, stonings  and  imprisonments,  and  whatsoever  a  savage 
people  delight  to  inflict  upon  enemies.  After  this  they  were 
led  to  the  forum,  and  when  interrogated  by  the  tribune,  and 
the  authorities  of  the  city,  in  the  presence  of  the  multitude, 
they  were  shut  up  in  prison  until  the  arrival  of  the  governor. 
Afterwards,  they  were  led  away  to  be  judged  by  him,  from 
whom  we  endured  all  manner  of  cruelty.  Vettius  Epagathus, 
one  of  the  brethren,  who  abounded  in  the  fulness  of  the  love 
of  God  and  man,  and  whose  walk  and  conversation  had  been 
so  unexceptionable  though  he  was  only  young,  shared  in  the 
same  testimony  with  the  elder  Zacharias.  He  had  walked, 
therefore,  in  all  the  commandments  and  righteousness  of  the  Lord 
blameless,  and  with  alacrity  in  kind  offices  to  man,  abounding  in 
zeal  for  God,  and  fervent  in  spirit.  As  he  was  of  this  high  cha- 
racter, he  could  not  bear  to  see  a  judgment  so  unjustly  passed 
against  us,  but  gave  vent  to  his  indignation,  and  requested  also, 
that  he  should  be  heard  in  defence  of  his  brethren,  whilst  he, 
ventured  to  assert  that  there  was  nothing  either  at  variance  with 
religion  or  piety  among  vis.  At  this,  those  around  the  tribunal 
cried  out  against  him,  for  he  was  a  man  of  eminent  standing. 
Nor  did  the  governor  allow  a  request  so  just  and  so  properly 
made,  but  only  asked  whether  he  also  were  a  Christian  ?  He 
confessed  in  as  clear  a  voice  as  possible,  and  he,  too,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  number  of  martyrs,  being  publicly  called  the  advo- 
cate of  the  Christians.  But  he  had  the  paraclete,  (advocate,) 
within  him,  viz.,  the  spirit  more  abundant  than  Zacharias,  which, 
indeed,  he  displayed  by  the  fulness  of  his  love ;  glorying  in  the 
defence  of  his  brethren,  and  to  expose  his  own  life  for  theirs.  He 
was,  'mdeed,  a  genuine  disciple  of  Christ,  following  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  he  would  go.  After  this,  the  others  were  also  set 
apart,  and  the  first  martyrs  endured  their  sufiTerings  with  prompt- 
ness and  alacrity,  most  cheerfully  finishing  the  confession  of 
niartyrdom.  They  appeared,  indeed,  unprepared  and  inexpe- 
ncnced,  and  yet  so  weak  as  to  be  incapable  of  bearing  the  in- 


^# 


# 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  171 

tensity  of  the  mighty  contest.  Of  these,  indeed,  about  ten  also 
fell  away,  causing  great  sorrow  and  excessive  grief  to  our  bre- 
thren, and  damping  the  ardour  of  those  who  had  not  yet  been 
taken.  These,  however,  although  they  endured  all  manner  of 
affliction,  nevertheless  were  always  present  with  the  martyrs,  and 
never  left  them.  Then,  indeed,  we  were  all  struck  with  great 
fear,  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  their  holding  out  in  the 
profession,  not  indeed  dreading  the  tortures  inflicted,  but  looking 
at  the  end,  and  trembling  lest  they  should  apostatize.  Those, 
indeed,  that  were  worthy  to  fill  up  the  number  of  the  martyrs, 
w^ere  seized  from  day  to  day,  so  that  all  the  zealous  members  of 
the  two  churches,  and  those  by  whose  exertions  the  church  had 
been  there  established,  were  collected.  Some  domestics  that 
were  heathen,  belonging  to  our  brethren,  were  also  seized  as  the 
governor  had  publicly  commanded  search  to  be  made  for  all  of 
us.  But  these,  at  the  instigation  of  Satan,  fcai'ing  the  tortures 
which  they  saw  the  saints  suffering,  and  the  soldiers  beside  this 
urging  them,  charged  us  with  feasts  of  Thyestes?*  and  the  incests 
of  Oedipus,f  and  such  crimes  as  are  neither  la wf'al  for  us  to  speak 
nor  to  think ;  and,  such,  indeed,  as  we  do  not  even  believe  were 
committed  by  men.  These  things  being  spread  abroad  amonp, 
the  people,  all  were  so  savage  in  their  treatment  of  us,  that,  if 
before  some  had  restrained  themselves  on  account  of  some 
affinity,  they  then  carried  their  cruelty  and  rage  against  us  to  a 
great  excess.  Then  was  fulfilled  the  declaration  of  our  Lord, 
"  that  the  day  would  come  when  every  one  that  slayeth  you  will 
think  he  is  doing  God  a  service."  The  holy  martyrs,  after  this, 
finally  endured  tortures,  beyond  all  description ;  Satan  striving 
with  all  his  power,  that  some  blasphemy  might  be  uttered  by 
them.  Most  violently  did  the  collective  madness  of  the  mob,  the 
governor  and  the  soldiers  rage  against  the  holy  deacon  of  Vienna,, 
and  against  Maturus,  a  new  convert,  indeed,  but  a  noble  cham- 
pion of  the  faith.  Also,  against  Attalus,  a  native  of  Pergamus, 
who  was'  a  pillar  and  foundation  of  the  church  there.     Aga"nst 

•  Thyestes,  accordin?  to  the  heathen  mythology,  ate  part  of  his  own  son,  wuom 
his  brother  Atreus,  to  revenge  the  crime  committed  against  himself,  had  slain. 
■{-  Oedipus,  in  ip;norance,  slew  his  father  Laius,  and  married  his  mother  Jocasta 
17=* 


172  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Blandlna,  also,  in  whom  Christ  made  manifest,  that  the  things 
that  appear  mean  and  deformed  and  contemptible  among  men, 
are  esteemed  of  great  glory  with  God,  on  account  of  love  to  him, 
which  is  really  and  powerfully  displayed,  and  glories  not  in  mere 
appearance.  For  whilst  we  were  all  trembling,  and  her  earthly 
mistress,  who  was  herself  one  of  the  contending  martyrs,  was  ap- 
prehensive lest  through  the  weakness  of  the  flesh  she  should  not 
be  able  to  profess  her  faith  with  sufficient  freedom,  Blandlna 
was  filled  with  such  power,  that  her  ingenious  tormentors  who 
relieved  and  succeeded  each  other  from  morning  till  night,  con- 
fessed that  they  were  overcome,  and  had  nothing  more  that  they 
could  inflict  upon  her.  Only  amazed  that  she  still  continued  to 
breathe  after  her  whole  body  was  torn  asunder  and  pierced, 
they  gave  their  testimony  that  one  single  kind  of  the  torture  in- 
flicted was  of  itself  sufficient  to  destroy  life,  without  resorting  to 
so  many  and  such  excruciating  sufferings  as  these. 

But  this  blessed  saint,  as  a  noble  wrestler,  in  the  midst  of  her 
confession  itself  renewed  her  strength,  and  to  repeat,  "  I  am  a 
Christian,  no  wickedness  is  carried  on  by  us,"  was  to  her  rest,  re- 
freshment and  relief  from  pain.  But  Sanctus  himself,  also  nobly 
sustaining  beyond  all  measure  and  human  power,  the  various 
torments  devised  by  men,  whilst  the  wicked  tormentors  hoped 
that  by  the  continuance  and  the  greatness  of  the  tortures,  they 
would  get  to  hear  something  from  him  that  he  ought  not  to  say, 
withstood  them  with  so  much  firmness,  that  he  did  not  even 
declare  his  name,  nor  that  of  his  nation,  nor  the  city  whence  he 
was,  nor  whether  he  was  a  slave  or  a  freeman,  but  to  all  the 
questions  that  were  proposed,  he  answered  in  the  Roman  tongue, 
"  I  am  a  Christian."  For  this  he  confessed  instead  of  his  name, 
his  city,  his  race,  and  instead  of  every  thing.  No  other  expression 
did  the  heathen  hear  from  him.'  Whence,  also,  an  ambitious  strug- 
gle in  torturing  arose  between  the  governor  and  the  tormentors 
against  him ;  so  that  when  they  had  nothing  further  that  they 
could  inflict,  they  at  last  fastened  red  hot  plates  of  brass  to  the 
most  tender  parts  of  his  body.  But  he  continued  unsubdued  and 
unshaken,  firm  in  his  confession,  refreshed  and  strengthened  by 
the  celestial  fountain  of  living  water  that  flows  from  Christ.    But 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  173 

the  corpse  Itself  was  evidence  of  his  sufferings,  as  it  was  one  con- 
tinued wound,  mangled  and  shrivelled,  that  had  entirely  lost  the 
form  of  man  to  the  external  eye.  Christ  suffering  in  him  exhi- 
bited wonders  ;  defeating  the  adversary,  and  presenting  a  kind  of 
model  to  the  rest,  that  there  is  nothing  terrific  where  the  love  of 
the  Father,  nothing  painful  where  the  glory  of  Christ  prevails. 
For  when  the  lawless  tormentors  tortured  the  martyr  again 
during  the  day,  and  sy.pposed  that  whilst  the  wounds  were 
swollen  and  inflamed,  if  they  applied  the  same  torments,  they 
M^ould  subdue  him,  as  if  he  would  not  then  be  able  to  bear  even 
the  touch  of  the  liand,  or  else,  that  dying  under  his  tortures  he 
would  strike  a  terror  into  the  rest,  not  only  was  there  no  appear- 
ance like  this,  but,  beyond  all  human  expectation,  the  body  raised 
itself,  and  stood  erect  amid  the  torments  afterwards  inflicted,  and 
recovered  the  former  shape  and  habit  of  the  limbs ;  so  that  his 
second  tortures  became,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  not  his 
torment,  but  his  cure.  But  the  devil  also  led  forth  a  certain 
Biblias  to  punishment,  who  was  one  of  those  that  had  renounced 
the  faith,  thinking  that  he  had  already  swallowed  her,  was  anxious 
to  increase  her  condemnation  by  blasphemy,  and  constraining  her 
as  a  frail  and  timid  character,  easily  overpowered,  to  utter  im- 
pieties against  us.  But  in  the  midst  of  the  torture  she  repented 
and  recovered  herself,  and  as  if  awaking  out  of  a  deep  sleep,  was 
reminded  by  the  punishment  before  her,  of  the  eternal  punish- 
ment in  hell.  And  accordingly  she  contradicted  the  blasphemers 
in  her  declarations.  "  How,"  said  she, "  could  such  as  these  devour 
children,  who  considered  it  unlawful  even  to  taste  the  blood  of 
irrational  animals  ?"  After  that,  she  professed  herself  a  Christian, 
and  was  added  to  the  number  of  martyrs.  But  as  all  the  tortures 
of  the  tyrants  were  defeated  by  Christ,  through  the  patience  of  the 
martyrs,  the  devil  devised  other  machinations ;  among  these  were 
their  confinement  in  prison,  in  a  dark  and  most  dism.al  place ; 
their  feet  also  stretched  in  the  stocks,*  and  extended  to  the  fifth 
hole,  and  other  torments,  which  the  enraged  minions  of  wicked- 

•  The  instrument  of  punishment  here  mentioned  was  a  piece  of  timber,  with  five 
pair  of  holes  cut  at  certain  distances  apart.  The  feet  were  put  into  these  end  secured 
with  cords  and  fetters. 


174  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ness,  especially  when  stimulated  by  the  influence  of  Satan,  are 
accustomed  to  inflict  upon  the  prisoners.  Numbers  of  them  were, 
therefore,  suflTocated  in  prison,  as  many,  viz.,  as  the  Lord  would 
have  to  depart,  thus  showing  forth  his  glory.  Some  of  them,  in- 
deed, had  been  cruelly  tormented,  so  that  it  appeared  they  could 
scarcely  live,  though  every  means  were  applied  to  recover  them. 
Though  confined  in  prison,  devoid  of  all  human  aid,  they  were 
strengthened  by  the  Lord,  and  filled  vvitk  power  from  him  both  in 
body  and  mind,  and  even  stimulated  and  encouraged  the  rest.  But 
the  new  converts  and  those  that  were  recently  taken,  whose 
'bodies  were  not  exercised  in  trials,  did  not  bear  the  oppression 
of  incarceration,  hut  died  within  the  prison. 

But  the  blessed  Pothinus,  who  had  faithfully  performed  the  mi- 
nistrations of  tfis  episcopate  at  Lyons,  and  who  was  past  his  nine- 
tieth year,  and  vtry  infirm  in  body ;  who,  indeed,  scarcely  drew 
his  breath,  so  wefvk  was  he  in  body  at  the  time ;  yet  in  the  ar- 
dour of  his  soul,  and  his  eager  desire  for  martyrdom,  he  roused 
his  remaining  strength,  and  was  himself  also  dragged  to  the  tri- 
bunal. Though  his  body,  indeed,  was  already  nearly  dissolved, 
partly  by  age  and  j^artly  by  disease,  yet  he  still  retaining  his 
life  in  him,  that  Christ  might  triumph  by  it.  When  carried  by 
the  soldiers  to  the  tribunal,  whither  the  public  magistrates  ac- 
companied him,  as  if  he  were  Christ  himself,  and  when  all  the 
mob  raised  every  outcry  against  him,  he  gave  a  noble  testimony. 
When  interrogated  by  the  governor,  who  was  the  God  of  the  Chris- 
tians, he  said,  "  If  thou  art  worthy,  thou  shalt  know."  After  this, 
he  was  unmercifully  dragged  away  and  endured  many  stripes, 
whilst  those  that  were  near  abused  him  with  their  hands  and  feet 
in  every  possible  way,  not  even  regarding  his  age.  But  those  at 
a  distance,  whatsoever  they  had  at  hand,  every  one  hurled  at 
him,  all  thinking  it  would  be  a  great  sin  and  impiety  if  they  fell 
short  of  wanton  abuse  against  him.  For  they  supposed  they 
would  thus  avenge  their  own  gods.  Thus,  scarcely  drawing 
breath,  he  w^as  thrown  into  prison,  and  after  two  days  he  there 
expired.  A  wonderful  interposition  of  God  was  then  exhibited, 
and  the  boundless  mercy  of  Christ  clearly  displayed  a  thing  that 
had  rarely  happened  among  brethren,  but  by  no  means  beyond  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  175 

reach  of  the  skill  of  Christ.  For  those  that  had  fallen  from  the 
faith  on  the  first  seizure,  were  also  themselves  imprisoned,  and 
shared  in  the  sufferings  of  the  rest.  Their  renunciation  did 
them  no  good  at  this  time,  but  those  that  confessed  what  they 
really  were,  were  imprisoned  as  Christians ;  no  other  charge  being 
alleged  agahist  them.  But  these,  at  last,  were  confined  as  mur- 
derers and  guilty  culprits,  and  were  punished  with  twice  the  se- 
verity of  the  rest.  The  former,  indeed,  were  refreshed  by  the  joy 
of  martyrdom,  the  hope  of  the  promises,  the  love  of  Christ,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Father  ;  but  the  latter  were  sadly  tormented  by 
their  own  conscience.  So  that  the  difierence  was  obvious  to  all  in 
their  very  countenances,  when  they  were  led  forth.  For  the 
one  went  on  joyful,  much  glory  and  grace  being  mixed  in  their 
faces,  so  that  their  bonds  seemed  to  form  noble  ornaments,  and, 
like  those  of  a  bride,  adorned  with  various  golden  bracelets,  and  im- 
pregnated with  the  sweet  odour  of  Christ,  they  appeared  to  some 
anointed  with  earthly  perfumes.  But  the  others,  with  downcast 
look,  dejected,  sad,  and  covered  with  every  kind  of  shame,  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  were  reproached  by  the  heathen  as  mean  and  cow>- 
ardly,  bearing  the  charge  of  murderers,  and  losing  the  honourable, 
glorious,  and  life-giving  appellation  of  Christians.  The  rest,  how- 
ever, seeing  these  effects,  were  so  much  the  more  confirmed,  and 
those  that  were  taken  immediately,  confessed,  not  even  admitting 
the  thought  suggested  by  diabolical  objections.  Introducing 
some  further  remarks,  they  again  proceed:  "  x\fter  these  things 
their  martyrdom  was  finally  distributed  into  various  kinds ; 
for  platting  and  constituting  cne  crown  of  various  colours  and 
all  kinds  of  flowers,  they  offered  it  to  the  Father.  It  was  right, 
indeed,  that  these  noble  wrestlers,  who  had  sustained  a  diversi- 
fied contest,  and  had  come  oft' with  a  glorious  victory,  sliculd 
bear  away  the  great  crown  of  immortality.  Maturus,  therefore, 
and  Sanctus,  and  Blandina,  and  Attains,  were  led  into  the  amphi- 
theatre to  the  wild  beasts,  and  to  the  common  spectacle  of  hea- 
thenish inhumanity,  the  day  for  cxiiibiting  the  fight  with  wild 
beasts  being  designedly  published  on  our  account.  Maturus,  how- 
ever, and  Sanctus,  again  passed  through  all  the  tortures  in  the 
amphitheatre,  just  as  if  they  had  suffered  nothing  at  all  belbrc,  or 


176  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

rather  as  those  who  in  many  trials  before  had  defeated  the  adver- 
sary, and  now  contending  for  the  crown  itself,  again  as  they  pass- 
ed, bore  the  strokes  of  the  scourge*  usually  inflicted  there,  the 
draggings  and  lacerations  from  the  beasts,  and  all  that  the  mad- 
ness of  the  people,  one  here  and  another  there,  cried  for  and  de- 
manded ;  and  last  of  all  the  iron  chair,  upon  which  their  bodies 
were  roasted,  whilst  the  fumes  of  their  own  flesh  ascended  to 
annoy  them.  The  tormentors  did  not  cease  even  then,  but  conti- 
nued to  rage  so  much  the  more,  intending  if  possible  to  conquer 
their  perseverance.  They  could  not,  however,  elicit  or  hear  any- 
thing from  Sanctus,  besides  that  confession  which  he  had  uttered 
from  the  beginning." 

These  two,  therefore,  in  whom  life  for  the  most  part  had  re- 
mained through  the  mighty  conflict,  were  at  last  despatched.  On 
that  day,  they  were  made  an  exhibition  to  the  world,  in  place  of 
the  variety  of  gladiatorial  combats.  Blandina,  however,  was  bound 
and  suspended  on  a  stake,  and  thus  exposed  as  food  to  the  assaults 
of  wald  beasts,  and  as  she  thus  appeared  to  hang  after  the  manner 
of  the  cross,  by  her  earnest  prayers  she  infused  much  alacrity  into 
the  contending  martyrs.  For  as  they  saw  her  in  the  contest,  with 
the  external  eyes,  through  their  sister,  they  contemplated  Him  that 
was  crucified  for  them,  to  persuade  those  that  believe  in  him,  that 
every  one  who  suflTers  for  Christ,  will  for  ever  enjoy  communion 
wdth  the  living  God.  But  as  none  of  the  beasts  then  touched  her,  she 
was  taken  down  from  the  stake,  and  remanded  back  again  to  prison 
to  be  reserved  for  another  contest ;  so  that  by  gaining  the  victory 
in  many  conflicts,  she  might  render  the  condemnation  of  the  wily 
serpent,  irrefragable,  and  though  small  and  weak  and  contempti- 
ble, but  yet  clothed  with  the  mighty  and  invincible  wrestler 
Christ  Jesus,  might  also  encourage  her  brethren.  Thus  she  over- 
came the  enemy  in  many  trials,  and  in  the  conflict  received  the 
crown  of  immortality.  But  Attalus  himself,  being  vehemently 
demanded  by  the  populace,  as  he  was  a  distinguished  character, 
came  well  prepared  for  the  conflict,  conscious  as  he  was  of  no 

*  The  punishment  here  inflicted,  was  much  like  what  is  called  running'  the  gant- 
let. The  hunters  stood  in  a  long  line,  and  as  the  martyrs  passed,  each  one  inflict- 
ed a  stroke  with  a  scourge  upon  the  naked  body. 


ECCLESL\STICAL    HISTORY.  177 

evil  done  by  him,  and  as  one  who  had  been  truly  exercised  in  Chris- 
tian discipline,  and  had  always  been  a  witness  of  the  truth  with 
us.  When  led  about  in  the  theatre,  with  a  tablet  before  him,  on 
which  was  written  in  Latin,  "This  is  Attalus  the  Christian," 
and  the  people  were  violently  incensed  against  him,  the  governor 
learning  that  he  was  a  Roman,  ordered  him  to  be  remanded  back 
again  to  prison  with  the  rest,  concerning  whom  he  had  writ- 
ten to  Cesar,  and  was  now  awaiting  his  determination.  But  he 
(Attalus)  in  the  meantime  was  neither  idle  nor  unprofitable  to 
them,  but,  by  their  patient  endurance,  the  immeasurable  mercy  of 
Christ  was  manifested.  For  by  means  of  those  that  were  yet 
living,  were  things  dead  made  to  live.  And  the  martyrs  confer- 
red benefits  upon  those  that  were  no  martyrs,  (i.  e.  upon  those 
that  had  fallen  away.)  Much  joy  was  also  created  in  the  Virgin 
Mother,  (the  church,)  for  those  whom  she  had  brought  forth  as 
dead  she  recovered  again  as  living.  For  by  means  of  these  the 
greater  part  of  those  that  fell  away,  again  retraced  their  steps, 
w^ere  again  conceived,  were  again  endued  with  vital  heat,  and 
learned  to  make  the  confession  of  their  faith.  And  now  Uving 
again,  and  strengthened  in  their  faith,  they  approached  the  tribu- 
nal, where  that  God  that  willeth  not  the  death  of  the  sinner,  but 
inviteth  all  to  repentance,  sweetly  regarding  them,  they  were 
again  interrogated  by  the  governor.  For  as  Cesar  had  written 
that  they  should  be  beheaded,  but  if  any  renounced  the  faith 
these  should  be  dismissed ;  at  the  commencement  of  the  fair 
which  is  held  here,  which  indeed  is  attended  by  an  immense  con- 
course of  people  from  all  nations,  the  governor  led  forth  the 
martyrs,  exhibiting  them  as  a  show  and  public  spectacle  to  the 
crow'd.  Wherefore,  he  also  examined  them  again,  and  as  many 
as  appeared  to  have  the  Roman  citizenship,  these  he  beheaded. 
The  rest  he  sent  away  to  the  wild  beasts.  But  Christ  was  won- 
derfully glorified  in  those  that  had  before  renounced  him,  as  they 
then,  contrary  to  all  suspicion,  on  the  part  of  the  Gentiles,  con- 
fessed. And  these  indeed,  were  separately  examined,  as  if  they 
were  soon  to  be  dismissed ;  but  as  they  confessed,  they  were  ad- 
ded to  the  number  of  the  martyrs.  Those,  however,  who  had 
never  any  traces  of  the  faith,  nor  any  conception  of  the  marriage 
Z 


178  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

garment,  nor  any  thought  of  the  fear  of  God,  remained  without, 
who,  as  the  sons  of  perdition,  blasphemed  the  way  by  their  apos- 
tacy.  Ali  the  rest,  however,  were  attached  to  the  church,  of 
whom,  when  examined,  a  certain  Alexander  was  found  to  be  one, 
a  Phrygian  by  birth,  and  physician  by  profession.  Having 
passed  many  years  in  Gaul,  and  being  well  known  for  his  love  of 
God  and  liis  freedom  in  declaring  the  truth,  for  he  was  not  des- 
titute of  apostolical  grace,  he  stood  before  the  tribunal,  and  by 
signs  encouraged  them  to  a  good  confession,  appearing  to  those 
around  the  tribunal  as  one  in  the  pains  of  childbirth.  The  mob, 
however,  chagrined  that  those  who  had  before  renounced  the  faith 
were  again  confessing,  cried  out  against  Alexander,  as  if  he  had 
been  the  cause  of  this.  And  when  the  governor  urged  and 
asked  him  who  he  was,  and  he  replied  that  he  was  a  Christian, 
in  his  rage  he  condemned  him  to  the  wild  beasts,  and  accordingly 
on  the  following  day,  he  entered  the  arena  with  Attains.  For  the 
governor  to  gratify  the  people,  also  gave  up  Attains  a  second 
time  to  the  beasts. 

Thus,  enduring  all  the  torments  that  were  invented  as  pimish- 
ment  in  the  amphitheatre,  and  after  sustaining  the  arduous  con- 
flict, these  were  likewise  finally  despatched.  As  to  Alexander,  he 
neither  uttered  a  groan  nor  any  moanmg  sound  at  all,  but  in  his 
heart  communed  with  God ;  and  Attalus,  when  placed  upon  the 
iron  chair,  and  the  fumes  from  liis  roasting  body  arose  upon  him, 
said  to  the  multitude  in  Latin  :  "  Lo  this  is  to  devour  men,  what 
you  are  doing.  But  as  to  us,  we  neither  devour  men  nor  com- 
mit any  other  evil."  And  when  asked  what  was  the  name  of 
God.  he  answered,  God  has  no  name  like  a  man.  After  all  thv?se, 
on  the  last  day  of  the  shows  of  gladiators,  Blandina  was  again 
brought  forth,  together  with  Ponticus,  a  youth  about  fifteen 
years  old.  These  were  brought  in  every  day  to  see  the  tortures  of 
the  rest.  Force  was  also  used  to  make  them  swear  by  their  idols ; 
and  when  they  continued  firm,  and  denied  their  pretended  divinity, 
the  multitude  became  outrageous  at  them,  so  that  they  neither 
compassionated  the  youth  of  the  boy  nor  regarded  the  sex  of  the 
woman.  Hence  tliey  subjected  them  to  every  horrible  sutfering, 
aiui  led  them  through  the  whole  round  of  torture,  ever  and  anon 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  179 

striving  to  force  them  to  swear,  but  were  unable  to  effect  it. 
Ponticus,  indeed,  encouraged  by  his  sister,  so  that  the  henthen 
could  see  that  she  was  encouraging  and  confirming  him,  nobly 
bore  the  whole  of  these  suiferings,  and  gave  up  his  life.  But  the 
blessed  Blandina,  last  of  all,  as  a  noble  mother  that  had  animated 
her  children,  and  sent  them  as  victors  to  the  great  King,  herself 
retracing  the  ground  of  all  the  conflicts  her  children  had  endured, 
liastened  at  last,  with  joy  and  exuhation  at  the  issue,  to  them,  as 
if  she  were  invited  to  a  marriage  feast,  and  not  to  be  cast  to 
wild  beasts.  And  thus,  after  scourging,  after  exposure  to  the 
beasts,  after  roasting,  she  was  finally  thrown  into  a  net  and  cast 
before  a  bull,  and  when  she  had  been  well  tossed  by  the  animal, 
and  had  now  no  longer  any  sense  of  what  was  done  to  her  by 
reason  of  her  firm  hope,  confidence,  faith,  and  her  communion 
with  Christ,  she  too  was  despatched.  Even  the  Gentiles  confess- 
ed, that  no  woman  among  them  had  ever  endured  suiferings  as 
many  and  great  as  these.  But  not  even  then  was  their  madness 
and  cruelty  to  the  saints  satisfied ;  for  these  fierce  and  barbarous 
tribes,  stimulated  by  the  savage  beast  Satan,  were  in  a  fury  not 
easily  to  be  assuaged,  so  that  their  abuse  of  the  bodies  assumed 
another  novel  and  singular  aspect.  Not  abashed  when  overcome 
by  the  martyrs,  but  evidently  destitute  of  all  reason,  the  madness 
both  of  the  governor  and  the  people,  as  of  some  savage  beast, 
blazed  forth  so  much  the  more,  to  exhibit  the  same  unjust  hostility 
against  us.  That  the  Scriptures  might  be  fulfilled,  "  He  that 
is  unjust  let  him  be  unjust  still,  and  he  that  is  righteous  let  him 
be  righteous  still."  Rev.  xxii.  IL  For  those  that  were  suflfb- 
cating  in  the  prison,  they  cast  to  the  dogs,  carefully  watching 
them  night  and  day,  lest  any  should  be  buried  by  us,  and  then 
also  cast  away  the  remains  left  by  the  beasts  and  the  fire,  how- 
soever they  had  either  been  mangled  or  buri>t.  They  also 
guarded  the  heads  of  the  others,  together  with  the  trunks  of 
tlieir  bodies,  with  military  watches,  for  many  days  in  succession, 
in  order  to  prevent  them  from  being  buried.  Some,  indeed, 
raged  and  gnashed  their  teeth  against  them,  anxious  to  find  out 
some  better  way  of  punishment.  Others,  again,  laughed  at  and 
insulted  them,  extolling  their  idols,  and  imputing  to  them  the 
18 


180  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

punishment  of  the  martyrs.  But  others,  more  moderate,  and  who 
in  some  measure  appeared  to  sympathize,  frequently  upbraided 
them,  saying,  "  where  is  their  God,  and  what  benefit  has  their  reh- 
gion  been  to  them,  which  they  preferred  to  their  own  hfe?"  Such 
was  the  variety  of  disposition  among  tlie  Gentiles,  but  among  our 
brethren,  matters  were  in  great  affliction  for  w^ant  of  liberty  to 
commit  the  bodies  to  the  earth.  For  neither  did  the  night  avail 
us  for  this  purpose,  nor  had  money  any  effect  to  persuade,  nor 
could  any  prayers  or  entreaties  move  them.  But  they  guarded 
them  in  every  possible  way,  as  if  it  were  a  great  gain,  to  prevent 
them  from  burial.  To  these,  they  afterwards  add  other  ac- 
counts, saying  :  "  The  bodies  of  the  martyrs  after  being  abused 
in  every  possible  manner,  and  thus  exposed  to  the  open  air  for 
six  days,  were  at  length  burned  and  reduced  to  ashes  by  the 
wretches,  and  finally  cast  into  the  Rhone  that  flows  near  at  hand, 
that  there  might  not  be  a  vestige  of  them  remaining  on  the  land. 
These  things  they  did  as  if  they  w^ere  able  to  overcome  God,  and 
destroy  their  resurrection,  {naTiiyyEVEGiav)  as  they  themselves 
gave  out,  '  that  they  might  not  have  any  hope  of  rising  again,  in 
the  belief  of  which,  they  have  introduced  a  new  and  strange  reli- 
gion, and  contemn  the  most  dreadful  punishments,  and  are  pre- 
pared to  meet  death  even  with  joy.  Now  we  shall  see,  whether 
they  will  rise  again  ;  and  whether  their  god  is  able  to  help  them, 
and  rescue  them  out  of  our  hands.'  " 


CHAPTER  II. 

Those  that  had  fallen  aicay,  kindly  restored,  by  the  pious  martijrs. 

Such  were  the  occurrences  that  befel  the  churches  of  Christ 
under  the  abovementioned  emperor,  from  which  it  is  easy  to  con- 
jecture what  was  the  probable  course  of  things  in  the  remaining 
provinces.  It  may  be  well  here  to  add  to  these  accounts,  other 
extracts  from  the  same  epistle,  in  which  the  moderation  and  be- 
nevolence of  these  martyrs  whom  we  have  mentioned,  is  record- 
ed in  the  following  words :  "  Thev  were  also  so  zealous  in  their 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  181 

imitation  of  Christ,  who,  though  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it 
not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,"  that  though  they  were  es- 
teemed in  the  same  light,  and  had  neither  once  nor  twice,  but 
frequently,  endui'ed  martyrdom,  and  had  been  again  taken  away 
from  the  beasts  to  prison,  and  had  brands,  and  scars,  and  wounds 
spread  over  them,  they  did  not  proclaim  themselves  martyrs,  for 
it  did  not  become  us  to  apply  this  name  to  them  ;  but  if  any  one 
of  us,  either  by  letter  or  in  conversation,  called  them  martyrs, 
they  seriously  reproved  us.  For  they  cheerfully  yielded  the 
title  of  martyr  to  Christ,  the  true  and  faithful  martyr,  (witness) 
the  first  begotten  from  the  dead,  the  prince  of  divine  life.  They 
also  made  mention  of  those  martyrs  that  had  already  departed, 
and  said:  "They  now  are  martyrs  whom  Christ  has  thought 
worthy  to  be  received  in  their  confession,  setting  the  seal  to  their 
martyrdom,  (testimony,)  by  the  issue.  But  we  are  but  indifferent 
and  mean  confessors,  and  with  tears  did  they  entreat  the  bre- 
thren, that  they  should  offer  up  incessant  prayers,  that  they  might 
be  made  perfect.  They  exhibited,  indeed,  the  power  of  martyr- 
dom in  fact,  exercising  much  freedom  in  declaring  themselves 
to  all  people,  and  manifested  their  noble  patience  and  fearless  in- 
trepidity ;  but  the  name  of  martyrs,  (witnesses)  they  declined  re- 
ceiving from  the  brethren,  filled  as  they  were  with  the  fear  of 
God."  Again,  after  a  little,  they  say,  "  They  humbled  themselves 
under  the  mighty  hand,  by  which  they  are  now  highly  exalted. 
Then,  however,  they  pleaded  for  all,  they  accused  none,  they  ab- 
solved all,  they  bound  none,  and  prayed  for  those  that  were  so 
bitter  in  their  hostility,  like  Stephen,  that  perfect  martyr.  '  Lord 
impute  not  this  sin  to  them.'  But  if  he  prayed  for  those  that 
stoned  him,  how  much  more  for  the  brethren."  And  again  they 
say,  after  mentioning  other  matters,  "  This  was  their  greatest 
conflict  against  him,  (the  devil,)  on  account  of  the  genuine  cha- 
racter of  their  love,  that  the  beast  being  choaked  and  throttled 
might  be  forced  to  return  alive  again  (to  vomit  up)  those  whom 
he  had  already  thought  to  have  swallowed.  For  they  did  not 
arrogate  any  superiority  over  the  backsUders :  but  in  those  things 
wherein  they  themselves  abounded;  in  this  they  supplied  those 
that  were  deficient,  exercising  the  compassion  of  mothers,  and 


■183  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

pouring  forth  rriany  prayers,  to  the  Father  on  their  account. 
They  implored  life,  and  he  gave  it  to  them,  which  they  also 
shared  with  their  neighbours ;  con:iing  off  victorious  over  all, 
to  God:  always  lovers  of  peace,  they  always  recommended 
peace,  and  with  peace  they  departed  to  God.  Not  leaving 
grief  to  their  mother,  (the  church,)  no  discord  or  dissensions 
to  the  brethren,  but  joy  and  peace,  unanimity  and  love.  This 
account  may  be  profitably  added,  respecting  the  love  of  those 
blessed  brethren  towards  those  that  fell  away,  on  account  of 
those  also,  who  after  these  events,  unsparingly  exercised  an  in- 
human and  merciless  disposition  towards  the  members  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  vision  that  appeared  to  Attains  the  martyr,  in  a  dream. 

The  same  epistle  of  the  abovementioned  martyrs,  also  contains 
another  account  worthy  of  record,  which  no  one  could  regret 
to  be  presented  to  the  knowledge  of  our  readers.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  A  certain  Alcibiades,  who  was  one  of  these  (martyrs,) 
and  v/ho  had  led  a  hard  and  rough  kind  of  life,  partook  of  no 
food  usually  eaten,  but  merely  bread  and  water.  When  cast 
into  prison,  and  he  attempted  to  lead  the  same  kind  of  hfe,  it  was 
revealed  to  Attains,  after  the  first  conflict  which  he  finished  in 
the  amphitheatre,  that  Alcibiades  did  not  do  well  in  not  making 
use  of  the  creatures  of  God,  and  affording  an  example  of  offence 
to  others.  Alcibiades,  therefore,  in  obedience  to  this,  partook 
of  all  kinds  of  food,  and  gave  thanks  to  God ;  for  neither  were 
they  destitute  of  divine  grace,  but  the  divine  spirit  was  their 
counsellor."  But  let  this  suffice  concerning  these.  Now  as 
Montanus,  and  Alcibiades,*  and  Theodotus,  in  Phrygia,  then 
first  began  to  he  esteemed  by  many  for  their  gifts,  (as  there  were 
many  other  wonderful  powers  of  divine  grace,  yet  exhibited  even 
at  that  time  in  different  churches,)  they  created  the  belief  with 

*  This  is  a  different  Alcibiades  from  the  one  beforementioned. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  183 

many,  that  they  also  were  endue'd  with  prophecy.  And  as 
there  was  a  dissension  in  consequence  of  these  men,  the  brcthien 
in  Gaul  again  presented  their  own  pious  and  correct  judgment 
also  concerning  these,  and  published  several  letters  of  the  martyrs 
that  had  been  put  to  death  among  them.  These  they  had  writ- 
ten whilst  yet  in  prison,  and  addressed  to  the  brethren  in  Asia  and 
Phrygia.  And  not  only  to  these  but  likewise  to  Eleuthcrus,  who 
was  then  bishop  of  Rome,  negotiating  as  it  were  for  the  peace  of 
the  churches. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  martyrs  commend  Irenaus  in  their  epistle. 

But  these  same  martyrs  recommending  also  Irenccus,  who 
was  then  a  presbyter  of  the  church  at  Lyons,  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome  beforementioned,  bear  abundant  testimony  in  his  favour, 
as  the  following  extracts  show :  "  We  pray  and  desire,  father 
Eleutherus,  that  you  may  rejoice  in  God  in  all  things  an() 
always.  We  have  requested  our  brother  and  companion  Ire- 
naeus  to  carry  this  epistle  to  you,  and  we  exhort  you  to  consider 
him  as  commended  to  you  as  a  zealous  follower  of  the  testament 
(covenant)  of  Christ.  For  if  we  knew  that  any  place  could  con- 
fer righteousness  upon  any  one,  we  would  certainly  commend 
him  among  the  first  as  a  presbyter  of  the  church,  the  station  that 
he  holds."  Why  should  we  here  transcribe  the  list  of  those  mar- 
tyrs given  in  the  abovementioned  epistle,  of  whom  some  were 
made  perfect  by  decapitation,  some  cast  to  be  devoured  by 
wild  beasts,  and  others  again  fell  asleep  in  prison.  Why  repeat 
the  number  of  confessors  still  living?  For  whoever  wishes  to 
learn  these,  can  more  easily  obtain  the  fullest  account  by  con- 
sulting the  epistle  itself,  which,  as  I  said,  has  been  inserted  by  us 
in  our  collection  of  martyrs.  But  such  were  the  events  that 
happened  under  Antonine. 
IS* 


184  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   V. 

God  sent  rain  from  heaven  to  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  emperor,  at  the 
prayers  of  our  brethren. 

But  it  is  said  that  Marcus  Aurelius  Cesar,  the  brother  of 
the  former,  when  about  to  engage  in  battle  with  the  Germans 
and  Sarmatians,  and  his  army  was  suffering  with  thirst,  was 
greatly  at  a  loss  on  this  account.  Then,  however,  those  soldiers 
that  belonged  to  the  Melitine  legion,  as  it  was  called,  by  a  faith 
which  has  continued  from  that  time  to  this,  bending  their  knees 
upon  the  earth  whilst  drawn  up  in  battle  array  against  the 
enemy,  according  to  our  peculiar  custom  of  praying,  entered  into 
prayer  before  God.  And  as  this  was  a  singular  spectacle  to  the 
enemy,  a  still  more  singular  circumstance  is  reported  to  have 
happened  immediately  ;  that  the  lightning  drove  the  enemy  into 
flight  and  destruction,  but  that  a  shower  came  down  and  re- 
freshed the  army  of  those  that  then  called  upon  God,  the  whole 
of  which  was  on  the  point  of  perishing  with  thirst.  This  history 
is  related  also  by  historians  who  are  strangers  to  our  doctrine, 
who,  however,  took  an  interest  in  the  writings  of  those  whom 
we  have  mentioned ;  but  it  is  also  stated  by  our  own  waiters, 
whilst  the  wonderful  event  is  also  added  by  historians  who  differ 
from  our  faith,  but  who  do  not  admit  that  this  happened  at  the 
prayers  of  our  brethren.  But  the  fact  is  handed  down  on  record 
by  our  brethren,  as  lovers  of  truth,  in  a  plain  and  undisguised 
manner.  Of  these  we  might  mention  ApoUinaris,  who  says  that 
from  that  time  the  legion  at  whose  prayers  the  wonder  took  place, 
received  an  appellation  appropriate  to  the  event,  from  the  em- 
peror, being  called  the  fuhninea,  or  thundering  legion.  Ter- 
tuUian  also  might  be  cited  as  a  suitable  witness  of  these  things,  in 
the  Apology  that  he  addressed  to  the  Roman  senate  for  the  faith, 
the  work  which  has  been  already  mentioned  by  us,  in  which  he 
confirms  the  history  with  greater  and  more  powerful  proof,  where 
he  writes  as  follows :  "  There  are  epistles  of  the  most  learned  em- 
peror Marcus  still  extant,  in  which  he  himself  bears  testimony  that 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  185 

when  his  army  was  ready  to  perish  for  want  of  water,  it  was 
saved  by  the  prayers  of  the  Christians ;"  he  says  also,  "  that  the 
same  emperor  threatened  death  to  those  that  attempted  to  accuse 
us."  To  which  he  also  adds,  "  What  kind  of  laws  are  those 
which  the  wicked,  unjust,  and  cruel  put  in  force  against  us  alone? 
which  neither  Vespasian  observed,  although  be  conquered  the 
Jews,  which  Trajan  in  part  annulled ;  forbidding  that  the  Chris- 
tians should  be  hunted  up ;  which  not  even  Adrian,  though  very 
inquisitive  in  all  matters,  nor  he  that  was  surnamed  the  Pious, 
confirmed."  But  every  one  may  place  these  to  what  account 
he  pleases.  Let  us  proceed  to  the  order  of  our  history.  Po- 
thinus  having  died  with  the  other  martyrs  of  Gaul,  in  the  nine- 
tieth year  of  his  age,  he  was  succeeded  by  Irenasus  in  the  episco- 
pate of  the  church  at  Lyons.  We  have  understood  he  was  a 
hearer  of  Polycarp  in  his  youth.  This  writer  has  inserted  the 
succession  of  the  bishops  in  his  third  book  against  the  heresies, 
where  he  reviews  the  catalogue  down  to  Eleutherus,  whose 
times  we  are  now  examining,  as  he  laboi 
production  of  this  work,  writing  as  follows. 


CHAPTER  VL 

Catalogue  of  the  bishops  of  Rome. 

"The  blessed  apostles  having  founded  and  established  the 
church,  transmitted  the  office  of  the  episcopate  to  Linus.  Of 
this  Linus,  Paul  makes  mention  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Anencletus,  and  after  him  Clement  held  the 
episcopate,  the  third  from  the  apostles.  Who,  as  he  had  seen 
the  blessed  apostles,  and  had  been  connected  with  them,  might 
be  said  to  have  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles  still  sounding  in  his 
ears,  and  what  they  delivered  before  his  eyes.  And  not  only  he, 
but  many  others  were  still  left,  who  had  been  taught  by  the 
apostles.  In  the  times  of  this  Clement,  there  was  no  little  dis- 
sension among  the  brethren  at  Corinth,  on  occasion  of  which 
the  church  at  Rome  wrote  a  considerable  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
2  A 


186  ECCLESIASl'lCAL  HISTORY. 

thians,  confirming  them  in  peace,  and  renewing  their  faith  and  the 
doctrine  they  had  lately  received  from  the  apostles.  After  a 
little,  he  subjoins :  "  But  this  Clement  was  succeeded  by  Euares- 
tus,  and  Euarestus  by  Alexander.  Xystus  followed  as  the  sixth 
from  the  apostles,  after  whom  was  Telesphorus,  who  also  illus- 
triously suffered  martyrdom,  then  came  Hyginus,  and  after  him 
Pius.  He  was  followed  by  Anicetus,  and  as  he  was  succeeded 
by  Soter,  the  twelfth  from  the  apostles  in  the  episcopate  now  is 
Eleutherus,  in  the  same  order  and  the  same  doctrine  (or  succes- 
sion*) in  which  the  tradition  of  the  apostles  in  the  church  and  the 
promulgation  of  the  truth  has  descended  to  us." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Miracles  were  performed  in  those  times  hy  the  believers. 

Thkse  accounts  are  given  by  Irenaeus  in  those  five  books  of  his, 
to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  "  Refutation  and  Overthrow  of 
False  Doctrine."  In  the  second  book  of  the  same  work,  he  also 
shows  that  even  down  to  his  times,  instances  of  divine  and  mi- 
raculous power  were  remaining  in  some  churches.  "  So  far  arc 
they,"  says  he,  "  from  raising  the  dead,  as  the  Lord  raised,  and 
as  the  apostles  by  means  of  prayer,  for  even  among  the  brethren 
frequently  in  a  case  of  necessity  when  a  whole  church  united  in 
much  fasting  and  prayer,  the  spirit  has  returned  to  the  ex-ani- 
mated body,  and  the  man  was  granted  to  the  prayers  of  the 
saints."  And  again,  he  says,  after  other  observations :  "  But  if 
they  say  that  our  Lord  also  did  these  things  only  in  appearance, 
we  shall  refer  them  back  to  the  prophetic  declarations,  and 
shall  show  from  them  that  all  those  things  were  strictly  foretold, 
and  were  done  by  him,  and  that  he  alone  is  the  Son  of  God. 
Wherefore,  also,  those  that  were  truly  his  disciples,  receiving 
grace  from  him,  in  his  name  performed  these  things  for  the  benefit 

*  The  word  succession,  in  the  parenthesis,  is  adopted  by  Valesius  as  the  correct 
reading. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  187 

of  the  rest  of  men,  as  every  one  received  the  free  gift  from  him. 
Some,  indeed,  most  certainly  and  truly  cast  out  daemons,  so  that 
frequently  those  persons  themselves  that  were  cleansed  from 
wicked  spirits  believed  and  were  received  into  the  church. 
Others  have  the  knowledge  of  things  to  come,  as  also  visions 
and  prophetic  communications ;  others  heal  the  sick  by  the  im- 
position of  hands,  and  restore  them  to  health.  And,  moreover, 
as  we  said  above,  even  the  dead  have  been  raised  and  continued 
with  us  many  years.  And  why  should  we  say  more  ?  It  is  im- 
possible to  tell  the  number  of  the  gifts  which  the  church  through- 
out the  world  received  from  God,  and  the  deeds  performed  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
and  this  too  every  day  for  the  benefit  of  the  heathen,  without 
deceiving  any,  or  exacting  their  money.  For  as  she  has  received 
freely  from  God,  she  also  freely  ministers."  In  another  place 
the  same  author  writes :  "  As  we  hear  many  of  the  brethren  in 
the  church  who  have  prophetic  gifts,  and  who  speak  in  all 
tongues  through  the  spirit,  and  who  also,  bring  to  light  the  secret 
things  of  men  for  their  benefit,  and  who  expound  the  mysteries 
of  God."  These  gifts  of  different  kinds  also  continued  with  those 
that  were  worthy  until  the  times  mentioned. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  statement  of  Irenaus  respecting  the  sacred  Scriptures. 

SixcE  we  have  promised  in  the  outset  of  our  work  to  give  ex- 
tracts occasionally  when  we  refer  to  the  declarations  of  the  an- 
cient presbyters  and  historians  of  the  church,  in  which  they  have 
transmitted  the  traditions  that  have  descended  to  us  respecting 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  among  these  Irenaeus  was  one.  Let  us 
now  givehis  words,  and  first  of  all  what  he  has  said  of  the  holy 
gospels :  "  Matthew,  indeed,"  says  he,  "  produced  his  gospel  writ- 
ten among  the  Hebrews  in  their  own  dialect,  whilst  Peter  and 
Paul  proclaimed  the  gospel  and  founded  the  church  at  Rome. 


IM  •     ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

After  the  departure  of  these,  Mark,  the  disciple  and  interpreter 
of  Peter,  also  transmitted  to  us  in  writing  what  had  been  preach- 
ed by  Peter.  And  Luke,  the  companion  of  Paul,  committed  to 
writing  the  gospel  preached  by  him,  i.  e.  Paul.  Afterwards  John 
the  disciple  of  our  Lord,  the  same  that  lay  upon  his  bosom,  also 
published  the  gospel,  whilst  he  was  yet  at  Ephesus  in  Asia." 
This  is  what  this  author  says  in  the  third  book  of  the  work  al- 
ready mentioned ;  and  in  the  fifth,  he  thus  descants  on  the  Reve- 
lation of  John  and  the  calculation  of  antichrist's  name :  "  As  mat- 
ters are  thus,  and  the  number  is  thus  found  in  all  the  genuine 
and  ancient  copies,  and  as  they  who  saw  John  attest,  reason 
itself  shows  that  the  number  of  the  name  of  the  beast  is  indi- 
cated by  the  Greek  letters  which  it  contains."  And  a  little 
further  on  he  speaks  of  the  same  John :  "  We,  therefore,"  says 
he,  "  do  not  venture  to  affirm  any  thing  with  certainty  respecting 
the  name  of  antichrist.  For  were  it  necessary  that  his  name 
should  be  clearly  announced  to  the  present  age,  it  would  have 
been  declared  by  him  who  saw  the  revelation.  For  it  has  not 
been  long  since  it  was  seen,  but  almost  in  our  own  generation, 
about  the  end  of  Domitian's  reign."  These  are  what  he  states 
respecting  the  Revelation.  He  also  mentions  the  First  Epistle 
of  John,  extracting  many  testimonies  from  it :  he  also  mentions 
the  First  Epistle  of  Peter.  And  he  not  only  knew,  but  also  ad- 
mitted the  book  called  Pastor,  in  these  words :  "  Well  is  it  said  in 
that  work  which  declares,  '  first  of  all  believe  that  there  is  one 
God,  who  created  and  arranged  all  things,'  "  &c. 

He  also  quotes  some  expressions  from  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
almost  in  these  words :  "  The  vision  of  God  is  productive  of  im- 
mortality, but  immortality  makes  us  to  be  next  to  God."  He  also 
mentions  the  commentaries  of  a  certain  apostolical  presbyter, 
whose  name  he  has  passed  by  in  silence ;  he  also  adds  his  expo- 
sitions of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  He  moreover  makes  mention  of 
Justin  Martyr  and  Ignatius,  taking  some  testimony  also  from  the 
worics  written  by  these.  He  also  promises  in  a  separate  work  to 
refute  some  of  the  writings  of  Marcion.  Hear  also  what  he  has 
written  respecting  the  translation  of  the  holy  Scriptures  by  the 
seventy.     "  God,"  says  he,  "  became  man,  and  the  Lord  himsell 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  189 

saved  us,  giving  us  the  sign  of  the  Virgin.  But  not  as  some  say, 
that  now  presume  to  interpret  the  Scriptures.  '  Behold  a  young 
vv^oman  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,'  as  Theodotian  of  Ephesus 
and  Aquila  of  Pontus,  have  translated,  both  of  them  Jewish  pro- 
selytes. Whom  the  Ebionites  following,  assert  that  Jesus  was  be- 
gotten of  Joseph."  After  a  little,  he  adds  :  "  For  before  the  Ro- 
mans established  their  empire,  whilst  yet  the  Macedonians  had 
possession  of  Asia,  Ptolemy  the  son  of  Lagus  being  ambitious  to 
adorn  the  library  established  by  him  in  Alexandria,  with  the 
works  of  all  men,  as  many  as  were  worthy  of  being  studied, 
requested  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to  have  their  works 
translated  into  the  Greek ;  but  as  they  were  yet  subject  to  the 
Macedonians,  they  sent  seventy  of  their  elders  that  were  best 
skilled  in  the  Scriptures,  and  in  both  languages,  to  Ptolemy,  and 
thus  Providence  favoured  his  design.  But  as  he  wished  them  to 
make  the  attempt  separately,  and  apprehensive,  lest  by  concert 
they  might  conceal  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  by  their  interpreta- 
tion, therefore  separating  them  from  one  another,  he  commanded 
all  to  write  the  same  translation.  And  this  he  did  in  all  the  books. 
Assembling  therefore  in  the  same  place,  in  the  presence  of  Ptolemy, 
and  each  of  them  comparing  their  respective  versions,  God  was 
glorified,  and  the  Scriptures  were  recognised  as  truly  divine,  as 
all  of  them  rendered  the  same  things,  in  the  very  sam.e  expres- 
sions, and  the  same  words,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  So  that 
the  Gentiles  present  knew  that  the  Scriptures  were  translated 
by  a  divine  inspiration.  Neither  was  it  any  thing  extraordinary 
that  God  should  have  done  this,  who,  indeed,  in  the  captivity  of 
the  people  under  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  the  Scriptures  had  been 
destroyed,  and  the  Jews  returned  to  their  country  after  seventy 
years,  subsequently  in  the  times  of  Artaxeres  king  of  the  Persians, 
he  inspired  PTsdras  the  priest,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  to  compose 
anew  all  the  discourses  of  the  ancient  prophets,  and  to  restore  to 
the  people  the  laws  given  by  Moses."     Thus  far  Irenaeus. 


190  •  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY, 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  bishops  under  Commodus. 

Antoninus  having  held  the  empire  nineteen  years,  Commodas 
received  the  government.  In  his  first  year  Julian  undertook  the 
superintendance  of  the  churches  of  Alexandria,  after  Agrippinus 
had  filled  the  ofiice  twelve  years. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OfPantcenus  the  philosopher. 


About  the  same  time,  the  school  of  the  faithful  was  governed 
by  a  man  most  distinguished  for  his  learning,  whose  name  was 
Pantasnus.  As  there  had  been  a  school  of  sacred  learning  esta- 
bhshed  there  from  ancient  times,  which  has  continued  down  to  our 
own  times,  and  which  we  have  understood  was  held  by  men  able 
in  eloquence,  and  the  study  of  divine  things.  For  the  tradition 
is,  that  this  philosopher  was  then  in  groat  eminence,  as  he  had 
been  first  disciplined  in  the  philosophical  principles  of  those  called 
stoics.  But  he  is  said  to  have  displayed  such  ardour,  and  so  zea- 
lous a  disposition,  respecting  the  divine  word,  that  he  was  con- 
stituted a  herald  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the  nations  of  the  east, 
and  advanced  even  as  far  as  India.  There  were  even  there  yet 
many  evangelists  of  the  word,  who  were  ardently  striving  to  em- 
ploy their  inspired  zeal  after  the  apostolic  example,  to  increase 
and  build  up  the  divine  word.  Of  these  Pantaenus  is  said  to  have 
been  one,  and  to  have  come  as  far  as  the  Indies.  And  the  re- 
port is,  that  he  there  found  his  own  arrival  anticipated  by  some 
who  there  were  acquainted  with  the  gospel  of  Matthew,  to 
whom  Bartholomew,  one  of  the  apostles,  had  preached,  and  had 
left  them  the  gospel  of  Matthew  in  the  Hebrew,  which  was  also 
preserved  until  this  time.  Pantasnus,  after  many  praiseworthy 
deeds,  was  finally  at  the  head  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  com- 
menting on  the  treasures  of  divine  truth,  both  orally  and  in  his 
writings. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  191 

CHAPTER  XL 

Clement  of  Alexandria. 

At  this  time,  also,  flourished  Clement,  at  Alexandria,  of  the 
same  name  with  him  who  anciently  presided  over  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  who  was  a  disciple  of  the  apostles.  This  Clement 
was  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  same  Scriptures  with  Pantaenus, 
and  in  his  Institutions  expressly  mentions  tiie  latter  by  name  as  his 
teacher.  He  also  appears  to  me  to  designate  this  same  one  in  the 
first  book  of  his  Stromata,  when  he  points  out  the  most  distin- 
guished of  the  apostolic  succession,  which  he  had  received  from 
tradition,  in  the  following  words :  "  These  books,"  says  he,  "  were 
not  fabricated  as  a  work  of  ostentation,  but  they  are  treasured 
up  by  me  as  a  kind  of  commentaries  for  my  old  age,  and  an  anti- 
dote to  forgetfulness,  as  a  natural  image  and  sketch  of  those 
efficacious  and  inspired  doctrines  which  I  was  honom'ed  to  have 
from  those  blessed  and  truly  excellent  men.  Of  these,  the  one 
was  lonicus  in  Greece,  but  the  other  in  Magna  Groecia ;  the  one 
of  them  being  a  Syrian,  the  other  a  native  of  Egypt.  Others, 
however,  there  were,  living  in  the  east ;  and  of  these,  one  was 
from  Assyria,  another  of  Palestine,  a  Hebrew  by  descent.  The 
last  that  I  met  with  was  the  first  in  excellence.  Him  I  found 
concealed  in  Egypt ;  and,  meeting  him  there,  I  ceased  to  extend 
my  search  beyond  him,  as  one  who  had  no  superior  in  abilities. 
These,  indeed,  preserved  the  true  tradition  of  the  salutary  doc- 
trine, which,  as  given  by  Peter  and  James,  John  and  Paul,  had 
descended  from  father  to  son.  Though  there  are  few  like  their 
fathers,  they  have,  by  the  favour  of  God,  also  come  down  to  us 
to  plant  that  ancient  and  apostolic  seed  likewise  in  our  minds." 
19 


im  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  bishops  of  Jerusalem. 

At  this  time  also,  Narcissus,  who  is  celebrated  among  many 
even  at  this  day,  was  noted  as  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  being  the 
fifteenth  in  succession  since  the  invasion  of  the  Jews  under  Ha- 
drian. Since  this  event,  we  have  shown  that  the  church  there 
consisted  of  Gentiles  after  those  of  the  circumcision,  and  thaf 
Marcus  was  the  first  bishop  of  the  Gentiles  that  presided  there. 
After  him,  Cassianus  held  the  episcopal  office ;  after  him  followed 
Publius,  then  Maximus;  these  were  followed  by  Julian,  then 
Caius ;  after  him  Symmachus,  and  another  Caius  ;  and  then  an- 
other Julian,  who  was  followed  by  Capito,  and  Valens  and  Doli- 
chianus.  Last  of  all  Narcissus,  the  thirtieth  in  regular  succession 
from  the  apostles. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Of  Rhode,  and  the  dissension  occasioned  by  Marcion,  which  he 
records. 

About  this  time,  also,  Rhodo,  a  native  of  Asia,  being  instructed, 
as  himself  says,  by  Tatian,  with  whom  we  have  already  become 
acquainted,  and  having  written  various  other  books,  among  the 
rest,  also  combatted  the  heresy  of  Marcion.  This,  he  says,  was 
split  into  various  opinions  in  his  time ;  and  describing  those  that 
occasioned  the  decision,  he  also  accurately  refutes  the  perverse 
doctrines  devised  by  each  of  them.  Hear  him  in  his  own  words : 
"  Hence,"  says  he,  "  they  are  also  divided  among  themselves, 
as  they  maintain  a  doctrine  that  cannot  stand.  For  from  this 
herd  arose  Apelles,  who,  assuming  a  gravity  of  deportment,  and 
presuming  upon  his  age,  professed  to  believe  but  one  principle, 
and  that  the  prophetic  declarations  proceeded  from  an  adverse 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  193 

spirit.  He  was  deluded,  however,  by  the  responsive  oracular  an- 
swers of  a  certain  virgin  under  demoniacal  influence,  and  whose 
name  was  Philumena.  But  others,  as  the  Mariner  Marcion  him- 
self, introduced  two  principles,  to  which  sect  belong  Potitus  and 
Basilicus.  These  following  that  wolf  of  Pontus  (Marcion),  and, 
like  the  former,  unable  to  find  the  division  of  things,  sunk  into 
licentiousness,  and  roundly  asserted,  without  any  proof,  that  there 
were  two  principles.  Others,  again,  declining  from  them  to  a 
still  greater  error,  established  not  only  two  but  three  natures." 
Of  these,  the  chief  and  leader  was  Syneros,  as  those  that  esta- 
blished his  school  say.  But  the  same  author  writes,  that  he  also 
had  some  conference  with  Apelles.  "  For,"  says  he,  "  the  old 
man  Apelles,  when  he  came  into  conversation  with  us,  was  re- 
futed in  many  of  his  false  assertions.  Hence,  he  also  said,  that 
one  ought  not  to  examine  doctrine,  but  that  each  one  should  con- 
tinue as  he  beheved.  For  he  asserted,  that  those  who  trusted  in 
him  that  was  crucified  would  be  saved,  if  they  were  only  found 
engaged  in  good  works.  But  he  asserted,  that  the  most  obscured 
of  all  things  was,  as  we  before  said,  the  question  respecting  the 
Deity."  For  he  said  there  was  one  principle,  as  our  doctrine 
asserts :  then,  after  advancing  the  whole  of  his  opinion,  he  sub- 
joins the  following :  "  When  I  said  to  him,  '  how  do  you  prove 
this  ?  or,  how  can  you  say  there  is  one  principle  ?  I  wish  you  to 
explain,'  he  said,  '  that  the  prophecies  refuted  themselves,  because 
they  uttered  nothing  that  was  true.  For  they  are  inconsistent 
and  false,  and  contradict  themselves.  But  said,  that  he  did  not, 
however,  know  there  was  only  one  principle,  he  was  only  moved 
to  adopt  this  opinion.'  Then  conjuring  him  to  speak  the  truth, 
he  swore  that  he  did  speak  the  truth,  and  said  he  did  not  under- 
stand how  there  could  be  a  God  without  being  produced,  but 
that  he  believed  it.  On  learning  this,  I  laughed,  and  reproved 
him ;  because  whilst  he  asserted  that  he  was  a  teacher,  he  knew 
not  how  to  establish  that  which  he  taught." 

In  the  same  work  which  he  addressed  to  Callistion,  he  confesses 

that  he  himself  was  taught  by  Tatian  at  Rome,  and  says,  also, 

that  a  book  of  questions  had  been  written  by  Tatian,  in  which 

Tatian,  having  promised  that  he  would  explain  what  was  hidden 

2B 


194  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  obscure  in  the  sacred  writings;  Rhodon  himself  promises 
that  he  would  give  solutions  to  these  questions  in  a  work  of  his 
own.  There  is  also  a  commentary  of  his  extant,  on  the  Hexa- 
hemeron.  But  this  same  Apelles  uttered  innumerable  impieties 
against  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  many  works  he  reviled  the  sa- 
cred Scriptures,  using  no  small  exertions,  as  it  seems,  to  refute 
and  overturn  them.     Thus  far,  however,  respecting  these 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  false  prophets  of  the  Phrygians. 

But,  as  the  enemy  of  the  church  of  God  is  the  great  adver- 
sary of  all  goodness,  the  promoter  of  evil,  and  omits  no  method  of 
plotting  against  men,  he  was  active  again  in  causing  new  here- 
sies to  spring  up  against  the  church.  Some  of  these  crept  like 
venomous  reptiles  over  Asia  and  Phrygia,  pretending  that  Mon- 
tanus  was  the  Paraclete,*  but  that  the  two  women  who  followed 
him,  Priscilla  and  Maximilla,  were  prophetesses  of  Montanus. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Of  the  schism  of  Blastus,  at  Rome. 

Others  there  were  that  flourished  at  Rome,  at  the  head  of 
whom  was  Florinus,  who  falling  from  his  oflice  as  a  presbyter  of 
the  church,  Blastus  was  very  nearly  involved  in  the  same  fall 

•  Paraclete,  the  epithet  of  the  holy  Spirit,  occurring  in  St.  John's  gospel.  It 
is  the  Greek  derivative,  signifying  Comforter  or  Advocate.  Other  false  teachers 
besides  Montanus,  have  either  assumed  or  had  this  epithet  applied  to  them ;  among 
these,  the  impostor  Mahomet  is  not  the  least  noted.  In  the  gospel  of  Barnabas, 
this  name,  by  a  mere  change  of  the  vowels,  is  Trsfuxxuro;,  the  most  glorious,  instead 
of  5r«p:jx\,|T05.  As  this  expresses  the  meaning  of  Mahomet's  name,  this  gospel  of 
Barnabas  is  much  valued,  at  least  among  the  African  Mahometans.  See  the  Co- 
ran,  Sur.  LXI. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  196 

with  him.  These,  also,  drawing  away  many  of  the  church,  se- 
duced them  into  their  opinions,  each  one  endeavourhig  separately 
to  introduce  his  own  innovations  respecting  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  XVI.  j 

The  affairs  of  Montanus,  and  his  false  prophets. 

Against  the  abovementioned  heresy  of  the  Cataphrygians, 
that  power  which  is  the  defender  of  the  truth,  raised  up  a  pow- 
erful weapon  and  antagonist  in  ApoUinaris  of  Hierapolis,  whom 
we  mentioned  before,  and  many  other  eloquent  men  with  him 
there.  Of  whom,  also,  most  abundant  matter  has  been  left  us 
for  our  history.  A  certain  one  of  them,  in  the  very  beginning 
of  his  work  against  them  (the  Cataphrygians,)  first  intimates 
that  he  would  meet  and  refute  them  by  open  argument.  For 
thus  he  commences  his  work :  "  As  for  a  long  and  very  con- 
siderable time,  O  beloved  Avircius  Marcellus,  I  have  been 
urged  by  thee  to  write  a  discourse  against  the  heresy  which 
is  called  after  Miltiades,  I  have  been  somehow  too  much  in 
doubt  until  now,  not  indeed,  for  want  of  argument  to  refute  the 
false  doctrine,  or  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  but  fearing  and 
apprehensive,  lest,  perhaps,  I  should  appear  to  any  to  give  any 
new  injunctions,  or  to  superadd  any  thing  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
New  Testament,  to  which  it  is  impossible  that  any  thing  should 
be  added  or  diminished,  by  one  who  has  resolved  to  live  accord- 
ing to  the  gospel.  Lately,  however,  having  been  at  Ancyra,  a 
city  of  Galatia,  and  having  understood  that  the  church  in  Pontus 
was  very  much  agitated  by  this  new  prophecy,  as  they  call  it, 
but  which,  as  shall  be  shown,  with  divine  assistance,  deserves 
rather  the  name  of  false  prophesy,  I  discoursed  many  days  in 
the  church,  both  respecting  these  matters  and  others  that  were 
proposed  by  them.  So  that  the  church,  indeed,  rejoiced  and 
was  strengthened  in  the  truth ;  but  the  adversaries  were  put  to 
flight,  and  the  opponents  were  cast  down.     But  as  the  presbyters 

of  the  place  requested  that  we  should  leave  some  comment  of 
19% 


196  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

those  things  that  we  said,  in  opposition  to  the  opponents  of  the 
truth,  Zoticus  Otrenus  also  being  present,  who  was  our  fellow- 
presbyter  ;  this,  indeed,  I  did  not  perform,  but  I  promised  writing 
hither,  and  to  send  it  as  soon  as  possible,  if  the  Lord  permitted." 
Such,  and  other  matters,  he  states  in  the  beginning  of  his  work, 
premising  the  cause  of  the  mentioned  heresy,  as  follows:  "Their 
combination,  therefore,  and  the  recent  heretical  severance  of 
theirs  from  the  church,  had  for  its  origin  the  following  cause : — 
There  is  said  to  be  a  certain  village  of  Mysia  in  Phrygia,  called 
Ardaba.  There,  they  say,  one  of  those  who  was  but  a  recent 
convert,  Montanus  by  name,  when  Cratus  was  proconsul  in 
Asia,  in  the  excessive  desire  of  his  soul  to  take  the  lead,  gave 
the  adversary  occasion  against  himself  So  that  he  was  carried 
away  in  spirit,  and  wrought  up  into  a  certain  kind  of  frenzy  and 
irregular  ecstasy,  raving,  and  speaking,  and  uttering  strange 
things,  and  proclaiming  what  was  contrary  to  the  institutions 
that  had  prevailed  in  the  church,  as  handed  dovm  and  preserved 
in  succession  from  the  earliest  times.  But  of  those  that  hap- 
pened then  to  be  present,  and  to  hear  these  spurious  oracles, 
some  being  indignant,  rebuked  him  as  one  under  the  influence 
of  dasmons  and  the  spirit  of  delusion,  and  who  was  only  exciting 
disturbances  among  the  multitude.  These  bore  in  mind  the 
distinction  and  the  warning  given  by  our  Lord,  when  he  cau- 
tioned them  to  be  vigilantly  on  their  guard  against  false  prophets. 
Others  again,  as  if  elated  by  the  holy  spirit,  and  the  gift  of  grace, 
and  not  a  little  puffed  up,  and  forgetting  the  distinction  made  by 
our  Lord,  challenged  this  insidious,  flattering,  and  seducing  spirit, 
being  themselves  captivated  and  seduced  by  him ;  so  that  they 
could  no  longer  restrain  him  to  keep  silence.  Thus,  by  an  ar- 
tifiice,  or  rather  by  a  certain  crafty  process,  the  devil  having 
devised  destruction  against  those  that  disobeyed  the  truth,  and 
thus  excessively  honoured  by  them,  secretly  stimulated  and  fired 
their  understandings,  already  wrapt  in  insensibility,  and  wander- 
ing away  from  the  truth.  For  he  excited  two  others,  females, 
and  filled  them  with  the  spirit  of  delusion,  so  that  they  also  spake 
like  the  former,  in  a  kind  of  extatic  frenzy,  out  of  all  season, 
and  in  a  manner  strange  and  novel,  whilst  the  spirit  of  evi  ton- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  197 

gratulated  them,  thus  rejoicing  and  inflated  by  him,  and  continu 
ed  to  pufF  them  up  the  more,  by  promises  of  great  things.  Some- 
times pointedly  and  deservedly,  directly  condemning  them  that 
he  might  appear  also  disposed  to  reprove  them.  Those  few  that 
were  deceived  were  Phrygians ;  but  the  same  inflated  spirit 
taught  them  to  revile  the  whole  church  under  heaven,  because  it 
gave  neither  access  nor  honour  to  this  false  spirit  of  prophecy. 
For  when  the  faithful  held  frequent  conversations  in  many 
places  throughout  Asia  for  this  very  purpose,  and  examined 
their  novel  doctrines,  and  pronounced  them  vain,  and  rejected 
them  as  heresy,  then  indeed  they  were  expelled  and  prohibited 
from  communion  with  the  church."  After  relating  these  facts 
in  the  beginning  of  his  work,  and  introducing  the  refutation  of 
their  error  in  the  body  of  the  work,  he  adds  the  following  re- 
marks in  the  second  book,  respecting  their  end  :  "  Therefore," 
says  he,  "  since  they  call  us  slayers  of  the  prophets,  because  w^e 
did  not  promptly  receive  their  talkative  pi'ophets,  saying,  '  these 
were  those  whom  the  Lord  promised  to  send  to  the  people.' "  Let 
them  answer  us  in  the  name  of  God,  O  friends,  W'hich  of  these 
\vho  began  prating  from  Montanus  and  his  women,  is  there  that 
sufiered  persecution,  or  was  slain  by  the  evil  doers?  None.  Not 
even  one  of  them  has  been  seized  and  crucified  for  the  name  (of 
Christ.)  None  at  all.  Not  one  of  their  women  was  ever  scourged 
in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  or  stoned.     No,  never. 

Montanus  and  Maximilla  indeed,  are  said  to  have  died 
another  death  than  this,  for  at  the  instigation  of  that  mischievous 
spirit,  the  report  is,  that  both  of  them  hung  themselves,  not  indeed 
at  the  same  time,  but  at  the  particular  time  of  each  one's  death, 
as  the  general  report  is  ;  and  thus  they  died  and  terminated  their 
life  like  the  traitor  Judas.  Thus,  also,  the  general  opinion  is,  that 
Theodotus,  one  of  the  first  that  was  carried  away  by  their  pro- 
phecy, as  it  was  called,  and  who  became  a  kind  of  patron  of  the 
delusion,  as  if  he  should  at  some  time  be  taken  up  and  received  into 
the  heavens,  and  who  falling  into  trances,  gave  himself  up  to  the 
spirit  of  deception,  was  finally  tossed  by  him  like  a  quoit  in  the 
air,  and  thus  miserably  perished.  They  say  this  happened  as 
we  have  stated     But,  my  friend,  we  do  not  presume  to  know 


196'  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

anything  certain  of  these  matters,  unless  we  had  seen  them.  For 
perhaps  both  Montanus  and  Theodotus,  and  the  abovementioned 
v/oman,  may  have  died  in  this  way,  or  they  may  not."  He  men- 
tions also  in  the  same  book,  that  the  holy  bishops  of  that  time 
attempted  to  refute  the  spirit  in  Maximilla,  but  were  prevented 
by  others  who  manifestly  co-operated  with  the  spirit.  His  state- 
ment is  as  follows :  "  And  let  not,  as  is  said  in  the  same  work  of 
Asterius  Urbanus,  let  not  the  spirit  of  Maximilla  say,  '  I  am 
chased  like  a  w^olf  from  the  flock,  I  am  no  wolf.  I  am  utterance, 
spirit,  and  power.'  But  let  him  show  the  power  in  the  spirit 
efTcctually,  and  prove  it  And  let  him  by  the  spirit  face  those 
that  were  present  at  the  time,  to  examine  and  argue  with  the 
babbling  spirit,  men  who  were  eminent,  and  bishops  of  the  church, 
Zoticus  of  Comana,  Julian  of  Apamea,  whose  tongues  the  follow- 
ers of  Themison  bridled  and  prevented  them  from  refuting  the 
false  and  seducing  spirit." 

In  the  same  work,  after  stating  other  matters  in  refutation  of 
the  false  predictions  of  Maximilla,  he  likewise  indicates  the  time 
that  he  wrote  this,  and  mentions  also,  her  declarations  in  which 
she  foretold  that  there  would  be  wars  and  political  convulsions. 
The  falsity  of  which  is  evinced  by  him  as  follows :  "  And  has  not," 
says  he,  "  the  falsehood  of  this  been  made  obvious  ?  For  it  is 
now  more  than  thirteen  years  since  the  woman  died,  and  neither 
has  there  been  a  partial  nor  a  general  war,  but  rather,  by  the 
mercy  of  God,  continued  peace  to  the  Christians."  This  he 
writes  in  the  second  book.  I  shall  also  subjoin  some  extracts 
from  the  third  book,  in  which  he  speaks  as  follows,  against  those 
who  boasted  that  there  were  many  of  theL*  nimiber  that  had 
sufiered  martyrdom :  "  But,"  says  he,  "  since  they  are  at  a  loss 
what  to  reply  to  the  refutation  of  their  errors,  they  attempt  to 
take  refuge  to  their  martyrs,  saying  they  have  many  martyrs, 
and  that  this  is  one  sure  evidence  of  the  power  of  that  spirit 
which  they  call  prophetical.  But  this,  as  it  appears,  is  nothing 
the  more  true  on  that  account.  For  some  of  the  other  heresies 
also  have  a  vast  number  of  martyrs,  but  neither  do  we  the  more 
on  that  account  agree  with  tiiem,  nor  acknowledge  that  they  have 
truth  on  their  side.     Indeed,  they  who  are  called  Marcionites, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  199 

say  that  they  had  vast  numbers  that  were  martyrs  for  Christ. 
But  they  do  not  confess  Christ  in  truth."  And  a  Httle  after,  he 
adds:  "Hence,  whenever  those  that  are  called  martyrs  by  the 
church,  on  account  of  enduring  martyrdom  for  the  true  faith, 
happen  to  fall  in  with  those  called  martyrs  of  the  Phrygian 
heresy,  they  always  separate  from  them  and  undergo  death, 
having  no  communion  with  them,  because  they  do  not  assent  to 
the  spirit  of  Montanus  and  the  women,  and  that  all  this  is  true, 
and  happened  in  our  own  times  at  Apamea  on  the  Menander, 
is  manifest  from  those  who  suffered  martrydom  with  Caius  and 
Alexander  of  Eumenia." 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Of  Milliades  and  his  worhs. 


In  the  same  work  he  also  makes  mention  of  the  historian  Mil- 
tiades,  who  also  wrote  a  book  against  the  same  heresy.  After 
quoting  some  passages  from  them,  he  adds :  "  As  I  found  these 
statements  in  one  of  their  works  against  another  work  written 
by  our  brother  Alcibiades,  in  which  he  demonstrates  the  impro- 
priety of  a  prophet's  speaking  in  ecstasy.  This  work  I  have 
abridged."  After  stating  other  matters,  he  enumerates  those  who 
had  prophesied  under  the  New  Testament.  Among  these  he 
mentions  one  Ammias  and  Quadratus.  "  But  the  false  prophet," 
says  he,  "  is  carried  away  by  a  vehement  ecstasy,  accompanied 
by  want  of  all  shame  and  fear.  Beginning,  indeed,  with  a  de- 
signed ignorance,  and  terminating,  as  beforesaid,  in  involuntary 
madness.  They  will  never  be  able  to  show  that  any  of  the  Old 
or  any  of  the  New  Testament,  were  thus  violently  agitated  and 
carried  away  in  spirit.  Neither  will  they  be  able  to  boast  that 
Agabus,  or  Judas,  or  Silas,  or  the  daughters  of  Philip,  or  Am- 
mias in  Philadelphia,  or  Quadratus,  or  others  that  do  not  be- 
long to  them,  ever  acted  in  this  way."  Again,  after  a  little,  he 
says:  "If  after Quadratus  and  Ammias  in  Philadelphia,  the  wo- 
men that  followed  Montanus  succeeded  in  the  gift  of  prophecy, 


200  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

let  them  show  us  what  women  among  them  succeeded  Montanus 
and  his  women.  For  the  apostle  shows  that  the  gift  of  prophecy 
should  be  in  all  the  church  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  but  they 
can  by  no  means  show  any  one  at  this  time,  the  fourteenth  year 
from  the  death  of  Maximilla."  Thus  far  of  this  author.  But 
the  Miltiades  mentioned  by  him  has  left  other  monuments  of  his 
study  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  both  in  the  works  that  he  wrote 
against  the  Greeks,  and  those  against  the  Jews.  Both  treatises 
are  composed  in  two  separate  volumes.  He  has,  moreover,  writ- 
ten a  work  against  the  philosophers  of  the  age,  in  favour  of  the 
philosophy  which  he  embraced. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


Apollo7iius  also  refutes  the  Phrygian  heresy,  and  those  whom  he 
has  mentioned. 

But  the  heresy  of  the  Phrygians,  as  it  was  called,  still  con- 
tinuing to  prevail  in  Phrygia,  Apollonius  undertook  to  refute  it  in  a 
particular  work  which  he  wrote;  on  the  one  hand  correcting  their 
false  predictions  in  reference  to  what  they  said,  and  on  the  other 
describing  the  life  that  those  led  who  were  its  founders.  Hear  him 
in  his  own  words  respecting  Montanus :  "  But  who,"  says  he,  "  is 
this  new  teacher  ?  His  works  and  his  doctrines  sufficiently  show 
it.  This  is  he  that  taught  the  dissolutions  of  marriage,  he  that 
imposed  laws  of  fasting,  that  called  Pepuza  and  Tymium,  little 
places  in  Phrygia,  a  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  collect  men  from 
every  quarter  thither ;  who  established  exactors  of  money,  and 
under  the  name  of  offerings,  devised  the  artifice  to  procure  pre- 
sents ;  who  provided  salaries  for  those  that  preached  his  doctrine, 
that  it  might  grow  strong  by  gormandizing  and  gluttony."  Thus 
far  concerning  Montanus ;  and  further  on  he  writes  concerning 
his  prophetesses :  "  We  show,  therefore,"  says  he,  "  that  these 
same  leading  prophetesses,  as  soon  as  they  were  filled  with  the 
spirit,  abandoned  their  husbands.  How  then  can  they  utter  this 
falsehood,  who  call  Prisca  a  virgin  ?"     He  afterwards  proceeds 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  201 

again :  "  Does  it  not  appear  to  you  that  the  Scripture  forbids  any 
prophet  to  receive  gifts  and  money  ?  When,  therefore,  I  see  a 
prophetess  receiving  both  gold  and  sih''er,  and  precious  garments, 
how  can  I  fail  to  reject  her  V  Again,  further  on,  respecting  a 
certain  one  of  their  confessors,  he  says :  "  Moreover,  Themison, 
who  was  completely  clad  in  a  most  plausible  covetousness,  who 
could  not  bear  the  great  characteristic  of  confession,  but  threw 
aside  bonds  and  imprisonment  for  the  abundance  of  wealth,  and 
though  it  became  him  to  walk  humbly,  boasted  as  a  martyr, 
and  dared  to  imitate  the  apostles  by  drawing  up  a  certain  catholic 
epistle,  to  instruct  those  who  had  a  oetter  faith  than  himself,  to 
contend  for  doctrines  of  empty  sound,  and  to  utter  impieties 
against  the  Lord  and  his  apostles  and  the  holy  church."  Again, 
speaking  of  others  that  are  honoured  among  them  as  martyrs,  he 
writes  thus :  "  But  not  to  speak  of  many,  let  the  prophetess  tell 
us  the  circumstances  of  Alexander,  who  called  himself  a  martyr, 
with  whom  she  feasted,  the  same  too  that  is  adored  by  numbers ; 
whose  robberies  and  other  crimes,  for  which  he  was  punished,  it 
is  not  for  us  to  tell,  but  which  are  preserved  in  the  public  records. 
Which  of  them  forgives  another  his  sins?  Does  the  prophetess 
forgive  the  martyr  his  robberies  1  or  the  martyr  forgive  the  pro- 
phetess her  avarice  ?  Although  the  Lord  has  said,  '  lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  gold  or  silver,  nor  two  coats,'  these,  in  direct  opposi- 
tion, have  committed  great  crimes  in  regard  to  the  possession  of 
things  thus  prohibited.  For  we  shall  show,  that  those  that  are 
called  martyrs  and  prophets  among  them,  have  derived  pecuniary 
gain,  not  only  from  the  wealthy,  but  from  the  poor,  and  from 
widows  and  orphans,  and  if  they  have  any  confidence  (of  inno- 
cence) in  this,  let  them  stand  and  settle  these  matters  with  us ;  so 
that  if  they  are  convicted,  they  may  abandon  their  misdemea- 
nours hereafter. 

•'  The  fruits  of  a  prophet  must  be  examined ;  for  by  its  fruits 
the  tree  is  known.  But  that  those  who  wish  may  understand 
the  circumstances  respecting  this  Alexander,  he  was  tried 
by  vEmilius  Frontinus,  the  proconsul  (of  Asia)  at  Ephesus,  not 
for  the  name  (of  Christian),  but  for  the  robberies  which  he 
dared  to  commit,  as  he  had  already  been  a  transgressor. — 
2C 


202  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Then,  however,  pretending  to  the  name  of  the  Lord,  he  was 
liberated,  after  he  had  spread  his  errors  among  the  faithful 
there.  But  the  church  of  the  place  whence  he  sprung  would 
not  receive  him,  because  he  was  a  robber.  Those,  however, 
that  wish  to  learn  his  history,  can  consult  the  public  archives  of 
Asia.  And  yet  the  prophet  professed  to  be  totally  ignorant  of 
having  lived  with  him  many  years ;  but  by  refuting  him,  through 
him,  we  also  overturn  the  pretensions  of  the  prophet.  The  same 
thing  could  be  shown  in  many  others,  and  if  they  have  the 
courage  let  them  undergo  the  test  of  argument."  In  another  part 
of  the  same  work,  he  adds  tffe  following,  respecting  their  boasted 
prophets :  "  If,"  says  he,  "  they  deny  that  their  prophets  took 
presents,  let  them  at  least  acknowledge,  that,  if  they  should  be 
proved  to  have  received  them,  they  are  no  prophets.  And  of 
these  matters  we  will  furnish  a  thousand  pj-oofs.  But  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  all  the  fruits  of  a  prophet  should  be  examined.  Tell 
me,  does  a  prophet  dye  (his  hair)  ?  Does  a  prophet  stain  (his 
eyelids)  ?  Does  a  prophet  delight  in  ornament  ?  Does  a  pro- 
phet play  with  tablets  and  dice  ?  Does  he  take  usury  ?  Let 
them  first  acknowledge  these  things,  whether  they  are  right  or 
not ;  and  I  will  show  that  they  have  been  done  by  them." 

This  same  ApoUonius  relates,  in  the  same  work,  that  it  was 
forty  years  from  the  time  that  Montanus  undertook  his  pretended 
prophecy  down  to  the  period  when  he  wrote  his  work.  And 
again  he  says,  that  Zoticus,  who  was  also  mentioned  by  the  for- 
mer historian,  when  Maximilla  was  pretending  to  utter  prophe- 
cies at  Pepuza,  attempted  to  interfere  and  reason  with  the  spirit 
by  which  she  was  stimulated,  but  was  hindered  by  those  that 
followed  her  opinions.  He  mentions,  also,  a  certain  Thraseas 
among  the  martyrs  of  the  times,  and  also  that  it  was  handed 
down  by  tradition,  that  our  Saviour  commanded  his  disciples  not 
to  depart  from  Jerusalem  for  twelve  years.  He  quotes,  also,  the 
Revelations  of  John  as  testimony ;  and  relates,  also,  that  a  dead 
man  was  raised  by  the  divine  power,  through  the  same  John,  at 
Ephesus.  Many  other  matters  he  also  states;  by  which  he 
abundantly  refutes  the  error  of  the  abovementioned  heresy. — 
These  are  the  matters  stated  by  ApoUonius. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY.  203 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  opinion  of  Serapion  respecting  the  heresy  of  the  Phrygians. 

Serapioiv ,  who  is  said  about  this  time  to  have  been  the  bishop  of 
the  church  of  Antioch,  after  Maximinus,  has  also  made  mention  of 
the  writings  of  ApolHnaris  against  the  same  heresy.  In  a  pi  Ivate 
letter,  which  he  wrote  to  Carious  and  Pontic  us,  he  mentions  him, 
and  also  refutes  his  heresy  in  the  following  words :"  But  that 
you  may  also  see,  that  the  influence  of  this  lying  party  of  a  new 
prophecy,  as  it  is  called,  is  abominated  by  all  the  brethren  in  the 
world,  I  have  also  sent  you  the  epistle  of  Claudius  ApoUinaris, 
that  most  blessed  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Asia."  In  this  same 
epistle  of  Serapion  are  also  given  the  subscriptions  of  several 
bishops.  Of  whom  one  wrote  as  follows :  "  I,  Aurelius  Cyrenius, 
a  witness,  wish  you  health."  Another,  as  follows :  "  iElius  Pub- 
lius  Julius,  bishop  of  Debeltum,  a  colony  of  Thrace,  as  sure  as 
God  lives  in  the  heavens,  the  blessed  Sotas,  in  Anchialus,  wished 
to  cast  out  the  daemon  from  Priscilla,  and  the  hypocrites  would 
not  sufl'er  him."  The  signatures  of  many  other  bishops  who  bear 
witness  to  the  facts,  are  given  in  their  own  hand  in  this  epistle. 
And  such  are  the  statements  referrins:  to  these. 


CHAPTEP*.  XX. 

The  vyritings  of  Irenoeus  against  the  schismatics  at  Rome. 

But  Irenaeus  composed  various  epistles  in  opposition  to  those 
that  attempted  to  disfigure  the  sound  institutions  of  the  church  at 
Rome.  One  addressed  to  Blastus,  On  Schism.  One  to  Florinus, 
On  Sovereignty,  or  on  the  truth  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  evil: 
for  the  latter  appeared  to  maintain  this  opinion.  On  whose  ac- 
count, as  he  was  again  on  the  point  of  being  carried  away  by  the 
Valentinian  delusion,  Irenaeus  also  wrote  the  treatise  on  the  Og- 
doad,  or  the  number  eight ;  in  which  book  he  also  shows  that  he 
20 


204  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

was  the  first  that  received  the  original  succession  from  the  apostles. 
There,  also,  at  the  close  of  the  work,  we  found  a  most  delightful 
remark  of  his,  which  we  shall  deem  incumbent  on  us  also  to  add 
to  the  present  work.  It  is  as  follows :  "  I  adjure  thee,  whoever 
thou  art,  that  transcribest  this  book,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  by  his  glorious  appearance,  w^hen  he  shall  come  to  judge  the 
quick  and  dead,  to  compare  what  thou  last  copied,  and  to  cor- 
rect it  by  this  original  manuscript,  from  which  thou  hast  care- 
fully transcribed.  And  that  thou  also  copy  this  adjuration,  and 
insert  it  in  the  copy."  These  things  may  be  profitably  read  in 
his  w^orks,  and  we  hope  with  equal  profit  have  been  related  by 
us,  that  we  may  have  these  ancient  and  truly  holy  men,  as  the 
noblest  examples  before  us.  In  that  epistle,  indeed,  which  we 
have  already  mentioned,  and  which  Irenaeus  addressed  to  Flo- 
rinus,  he  again  speaks  of  his  intimacy  with  Polycarp.  "  These 
doctrines,"  says  he,  "  O  Florinus,  to  say  the  least,  are  not  of  a 
sound  understanding.  These  doctrines  are  inconsistent  with  the 
church,  and  calculated  to  thrust  those  that  follow  them  into  the 
greatest  impiety.  These  doctrines,  not  even  the  heretics  out  of 
the  church  ever  attempted  to  assert.  These  doctrines  were 
never  delivered  to  thee  by  the  presbyters  before  us,  those  who 
also  were  the  immediate  disciples  of  the  apostles.  For  I  saw 
thee  when  I  was  yet  a  boy  in  the  lower  Asia  with  Polycarp, 
moving  in  great  splendour  at  court,  and  endeavourning  by  all 
means  to  gain  his  esteem.  I  remember  the  events  of  those  times 
much  better  than  those  of  more  recent  occurrence.  As  the 
studies  of  our  youth  growing  with  our  minds,  unite  with  it  so 
firmly  that  I  can  tell  also  the  very  place  where  the  blessed  Poly- 
carp was  accustomed  to  sit  and  discourse ;  and  also  his  en- 
trances, his  walks,  the  complexion  of  his  life  and  the  form  of  his 
body,  and  his  conversations  with  the  people,  and  his  familiar  in- 
tercourse with  John,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  tell,  as  also  his 
familiarity  with  those  that  had  seen  he  Lord.  How  also  he 
used  to  relate  their  discourses,  and  what  things  he  had  heard 
from  them  concerning  the  Lord.  Also  concerning  his  miracles, 
his  doctrine,  all  these  were  told  by  Polycarp,  in  consistency  with 
the  holy  Scriptures,  as  he  had  received  them  from  the  eve  wit 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  205 

nesses  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation.  These  things,  by  the  mercy 
of  God,  and  the  opportunity  then  afforded  me,  I  attentively  heard, 
noting  them  down,  not  on  paper,  but  in  my  heart ;  and  these 
same  facts  I  am  always  in  the  habit,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
recall  faithfully  to  mind.  And  I  can  bear  witness  in  the  sight 
of  God,  that  if  that  blessed  and  apostolic  presbyter  had  heard 
any  such  thing  as  this,  he  would  have  exclaimed,  and  stopped 
his  ears,  and  according  to  his  custom,  would  have  said :  "  O 
good  God,  unto  what  times  hast  thou  reserved  me,  that  I  should 
tolerate  these  things."  He  would  have  fled  from  the  place  in 
which  he  had  sat  or  stood,  hearing  doctrines  like  these.  From  his 
epistles,  also,  which  he  wrote  to  the  neighbouring  churches,  in 
order  to  confirm  them,  or  to  some  of  the  brethren  in  order  to  ad- 
monish or  to  exhort  them,  the  same  thing  may  be  clearly  shown." 
Thus  far  Irenaeus. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

The  inartyrdom  of  Apollonius,  at  Rome. 

About  the  same  period,  in  the  reign  of  Commodus,  our  cir- 
cumstances were  changed  to  a  milder  aspect,  as  there  was  peace 
hy  the  grace  of  God  prevailing  in  the  churches  throughout  the 
"^Ikole  world.  Then  also  the  salutary  doctrine  brought  the  minds 
of  men  from  every  race  on  eai  th,  to  the  devout  veneration  of 
the  Supreme  God.  So  that  now,  many  of  those  eminent  at 
Rome  for  their  wealth  and  kindred,  with  their  whole  house  and 
family,  yielded  to  their  salvation.  But  this  was  not  to  be  easily 
borne  by  the  adversary  of  all  good,  that  daemon  who  in  his  own 
nature  is  envy  itself:  for  he  again  prepared  for  action,  and 
commenced  plotting  various  devices  against  us.  He  led  to  the 
tribunal  Apollonius,  one  of  the  faithful  at  that  day,  renowned  for 
his  learning  and  wisdom,  by  stimulating  a  certain  man,  well  cal- 
culated to  be  his  minister  for  such  a  purpose,  to  bring  accusation 
against  him.     But  this  miserable  instrument,  entering  upon  the 


206  ECCl-ESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

live  according  to  the  imperial  edict,  his  limbs  were  immediate- 
ly broken,  after  Perennis  the  judge  had  pronounced  the  sen- 
tence. But  this  most  approved  and  divinely  favoured  martyr,  as 
the  judge  earnestly  desired  and  entreated  him  to  give  an  account 
of  himself  before  the  senate,  delivered  a  most  eloquent  defence 
of  the  faith  for  which  he  was  suffering,  in  the  presence  of  all, 
terminated  his  life,  by  decapitation,  according  to  the  decree  of  the 
senate ;  as  there  was  a  law  of  long  standing  with  them,  that  those 
who  had  once  been  led  to  trial,  and  that  would  by  no  means 
change  their  purpose,  should  not  be  dismissed.  But  the  decla- 
rations of  this  martyr  before  the  judge,  and  the  answers  that  he 
gave  to  the  questions  of  Perennis,  and  his  whole  defence  before 
the  senate,  whoever  wishes  to  know,  may  learn  from  the  narra- 
tives of  ancient  martyrs  collected  by  us. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  bishops  that  Jlourished  at  this  time. 

In  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Commodus,  Eleutherus,  who 
had  held  the  episcopate  for  thirteen  years,  was  succeeded  by 
Victor.  In  this  year,  also,  Julianus,  who  had  the  episcopal 
charge  of  the  churches  at  Alexandria  ten  years,  was  succeeded 
by  Demetrius.  At  this  time,  also,  was  yet  living  the  abovemen- 
tioned  Serapion,  bishop  of  Antioch,  and  the  eighth  in  succession 
from  the  apostles.  At  Cesarea,  in  Palestine,  Theophilus  presided ; 
and  Narcissus,  who  was  mentioned  before,  had  yet  at  the  same 
time  the  administration  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  Bacchyllus 
was  then  also  bishop  of  Corinth,  in  Greece,  and  Polycrates  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus,  and  many  others  besides  these,  as  is  probable, 
were  prominent.  We  have  only  given  the  names  of  those  whose 
orthodoxy  has  descended  to  us  on  record. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  207 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  question  then  agitated  respecting  the  passover.* 

There  was  a  considerable  discussion  raised  about  this  time, 
in  consequence  of  a  difference  of  opinion  respecting  the  observ- 
ance of  the  paschal  season.  The  churches  of  all  Asia,  guided  by 
a  remoter  tradition,  supposed  that  they  ought  to  keep  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  moon  for  the  festival  of  the  Saviour's  passover, 
in  which  day  the  Jews  were  commanded  to  kill  the  paschal  lamb ; 
and  it  was  incumbent  on  them,  at  all  times,  to  make  an  end  of 
the  fast  on  this  day,  on  whatever  day  of  the  week  it  should  hap- 
pen to  fall.  But  as  it  was  not  the  custom  to  celebrate  it  in  this 
manner  in  the  churches  throughout  the  rest  of  the  world,  who 
observe  the  practice  that  has  prevailed  from  apostolic  tradition 
until  the  present  time,  so  that  it  would  not  be  proper  to  terminate 
our  fast  on  any  other  but  the  day  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Sa- 
viour. Hence  there  were  synods  and  convocations  of  the  bishops 
on  this  question ;  and  all  unanimously  drew  up  an  ecclesiastical 
decree,  which  they  communicated  to  all  the  churches  in  all  places, 
that  the  mystery  of  our  Lord's  resurrection  should  be  celebrated 
on  toother  day  than  the  Lord's-day ;  and  that  on  this  day  alone 
we  sl^ild  observe  the  close  of  the  paschal  fasts.  There  is  an 
epistleextantevennow,  of  those  who  were  assembled  at  the  time; 
among  whom  presided  Theophilus,  bishop  of  the  church  in  Ce- 
sarea,  and  Narcissus,  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  There  is  also  another 
epistle  extant  on  the  same  question,  bearing  the  name  of  Victor. 

•  Our  English  word  passover,  happily,  in  sound  and  sense,  almost  corresponds 
to  the  Hebrew  riDD,  of  which  it  is  a  translation.  Exod.  xii.  27.  The  Greek  pascha, 
formed  from  the  Hebrew,  is  the  name  of  the  Jewish  festival,  applied  invariably  in 
the  primitive  church  to  designate  the  festival  of  the  Lord's  resurrection,  which  took 
place  at  the  time  of  the  passover.  Our  word,  Easter,  is  of  Saxon  origin,  and  ot 
precisely  the  same  import  with  its  German  cognate  Ostern,  The  latter  is  derived 
from  the  old  Teutonic  form  of  auferstehn,  auferstehung,  i,  e.  resurrection.  The 
name  Easter,  as  expressive  of  meaning,  is  undoubtedly  preferable  to  pascha  or  pass 
over,  but  the  latter  was  the  primitive  name. 
20* 


208  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

An  epistle,  also,  of  the  bishops  in  Pontus,  among  whom  Palmas, 
as  the  most  ancient,  presided ;  also,  of  the  churches  of  Gaul,  over 
whom  Ireneeus  presided.  Moreover,  one  from  those  in  Osrhoene, 
and  the  cities  there.  And  a  particular  epistle  from  Bacchyllus, 
bishop  of  the  Corinthians ;  and  epistles  of  many  others,  who,  ad- 
vancing one  and  the  same  doctrine,  also  passed  the  same  vote. 
And  this,  their  unanimous  determination,  was  the  one  already 
mentioned. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  dissension  of  the  churches  in  Asia. 

The  bishops,  however,  of  Asia,  persevering  in  observing  the 
custom  handed  down  to  them  from  their  fathers,  were  headed 
by  Polycrates.  He,  indeed,  had  also  set  forth  the  tradition  handed 
down  to  them,  in  a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  Victor  and  the 
church  of  Rome.  "  We,"  said  he,  "  therefore,  observe  the  genuine 
day  ;  neither  adding  thereto  nor  taking  therefrom.  For  in  Asia 
great  lights  have  fallen  asleep,  which  shall  rise  again  in  the  day 
of  the  Lord's  appearing,  in  which  he  will  come  with  glory  from 
heaven,  and  will  raise  up  all  the  saints ;  Philip,  one  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  who  sleeps  in  Hierapolis,  and  his  two  aged  virgin 
daughters.  His  other  daughter,  also,  who  having  lived  under 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  now  likewise  rests  in  Ephe- 
sus.  Moreover,  John,  who  rested  upon  the  bosom  of  our  Lord ; 
who  also  was  a  priest,  and  bore  the  sacerdotal  plate  *  {jwraTuov), 
both  a  martyr  and  teacher.  He  is  buried  in  Ephesus;  also 
Polycarp  of  Smyrna,  both  bishop  and  martyr.  Thraseas,  also, 
bishop  and  martyr  of  Eumenia,  who  is  buried  at  Smyrna. 
Why  should  I  mention  Sagaris,  bishop  and  martyr,  who  rests  at 
Laodicea.  Moreover,  the  blessed  Papirius;  and  Melito,  the 
eunuch,  whose  walk  and  conversation  was  altogether  under  the 

*  The  sacerdotal  plate  here  mentioned,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the  Jewish 
priesthood,  for  John  had  no  connexion  with  that.  It  is  probable  that  he,  with 
others,  wore  a  badge  like  this,  as  the  priests  of  a  better  covenant. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  209 

influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  now  rests  at  Sardis,  awaiting 
the  episcopate  from  heaven,  when  he  shall  rise  from  the  dead. 
All  these  observed  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  passover  according 
to  the  gospel,  deviating  in  no  respect,  but  following  the  rule  of 
faith,  JNIoreover,  I,  Polycrates,  who  am  the  least  of  all  of  you, 
according  to  the  tradition  of  my  relatives,  some  of  whom  I  have 
followed.  For  there  were  seven,  my  relatives  bishops,  and  I  am 
the  eighth;  and  my  relatives  always  observed  the  day  when  the 
people  (i.  e.  the  Jews)  threw  away  the  leaven.  I,  therefore,  bre- 
thren, am  now  sixty-five  years  in  the  Lord,  who  having  conferred 
with  the  brethren  throughout  the  world,  and  having  studied  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  am  not  at  all  alarmed  at  those 
things  with  which  I  am  threatened,  to  intimidate  me.  For  they 
who  are  greater  than  I,  have  said,  '  we  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  men.'  "  After  this,  he  also  proceeds  to  write  concerning  all 
the  bishops  that  were  present,  and  thought  the  same  with  him- 
self: "  I  could  also  mention,"  says  he,  "  the  bishops  that  were 
present,  whom  you  requested  to  be  summoned  by  me,  and  whom 
I  did  call.  Whose  names,  did  I  write  them,  would  present  a 
great  number.  Who,  however,  seeing  my  slender  body,  con- 
sented to  the  epistle,  well  knowing  that  I  did  not  bear  my  gray 
hairs  for  nought,  but  that  I  did  at  all  times  regulate  my  life  in 
the  Lord  Jesus."  Upon  this,  Victor,  the  bishop  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  forthwith  endeavoured  to  cut  ofl'  the  churches  of  all  Asia, 
together  with  the  neighbouring  churches,  as  heterodox,  from  the 
common  unity.  And  he  publishes  abroad  by  letters,  and  pro- 
claims, that  all  the  brethren  there  are  wholly  excommunicated. 
But  this  was  not  the  opinion  of  all  the  bishops.  They  immedi- 
ately exhorted  him,  on  the  contrary,  to  contemplate  that  course 
that  was  calculated  to  promote  peace,  unity,  and  love  to  one  an- 
other. 

There  are  also  extant,  the  expressions  they  used,  who  pressed 
upon  Victor  with  much  severity.  Among  these  also  was  Ire- 
naius,  whoj  in  the  name  of  those  brethren  in  Gaul  over  whom 
he  presided,  wrote  an  epistle,  in  which  he  maintains  the  duty  of 
celebrating  the  mystery  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  only  on 
the  day  of  the  Lord.  He  becomingly  also  admonishes  Victor, 
2D 


210  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

not  to  cut  off  whole  churches  of  God,  who  observed  the  tradition 
of  an  ancient  custom.  After  many  other  matters  urged  by  him, 
he  also  adds  the  following  :  "  For  not  only  is  the  dispute  respect- 
ing the  day,  but  also  respecting  the  manner  of  fasting.  For  some 
think,  that  they  ought  to  fast  only  one  day,  some  two,  some  more 
days ;  some  compute  their  day  as  consisting  of  forty  hours  night 
and  day ;  and  this  diversity  existing  among  those  that  observe  it, 
is  not  a  matter  that  has  just  sprung  up  in  our  times,  but  long  ago 
among  those  before  us,  who  perhaps  not  having  ruled  with  suf- 
ficient strictness,  established  the  practice  that  arose  from  their 
simplicity  and  inexperience.  And  yet  with  all,  these  maintained 
peace,  and  we  have  maintained  peace  with  one  another ;  and 
the  very  difference  in  our  fasting  establishes  the  unanimity  in  our 
faith."  To  these  he  also  adds  a  narrative,  which  I  may  here 
appropriately  insert.  It  is  as  follows :  "  And  those  presbyters 
who  governed  the  church  before  Soter,  and  over  which  you  now 
preside,  I  mean  Anicetus  and  Pius,  Hyginus  with  Telesphorus 
and  Xystus,  neither  did  themselves  observe,  not  cUd  they  permit 
those  after  them  to  observe  it.  And  yet,  though  they  themselves 
did  not  keep  it,  they  were  not  the  less  on  peace  with  those  from 
churches  where  it  w^as  kept,  whenever  they  came  to  them ;  al- 
though to  keep  it  then  was  so  much  the  more  in  opposition  to 
those  who  did  not*  Neither  at  any  time  did  they  cast  off  any 
merely  for  the  sake  of  the  form.  But  those  very  presbyters  be- 
fore thee,  who  did  not  observe  it,  sent  the  eucharistf  to  those  of 
churches  who  did.  And  when  the  blessed  Polycarp  went  to 
Rome,  in  the  time  of  Anicetus,  and  they  had  a  httle  difference 
am.ong  themselves  likewise  respecting  other  matters,  they  im- 
mediately were  reconciled,  not  disputing  much  with  one  another 
on  this  head.  For  neither  could  Anicetus  persuade  Polycarp  not 
to  observe  it,  because  he  had  always  observed  it  with  John  the 

*  The  meaning  of  this  passage,  if  it  has  any  obscurity,  is,  that  the  act  of  observing 
and  celebrating,  was  a  more  decided  attitude  of  opposition  in  the  very  face  of  the 
church  that  did  not  observe  the  festival  at  this  time.  And  that  the  western  church 
bore  with  this,  is  here  adduced  as  proof  of  the  love  and  unity  prevailing  in  the 
churches. 

f  The  bishops  were  accustomed  at  Easter  to  send  the  eucharist  to  one  another. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  211 

disciple  of  our  Lord,  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  with  whom  he 
associated ;  and  neither  did  Polycarp  persuade  Anicetus  to  ob- 
serve, who  said  that  he  was  bound  to  maintain  the  practice  of 
the  presbyters  before  him.  Which  things  being  so,  they  com- 
muned with  each  other  ;  and  in  the  church,  Anicetus  yielded  to 
Polycarp,  out  of  respect  no  doubt,  the  office  of  consecrating,  and 
they  separated  from  each  other  in  peace,  all  the  church  being  at 
peace ;  both  those  that  observed  and  those  that  did  not  observe, 
maintaining  peace.  And  this  same  Irenasus,  as  one  whose  cha- 
racter answered  well  to  his  name,  being  in  this  way  a  peace- 
maker, exhorted  and  negociated  such  matters  as  these  for  the 
peace  of  the  churches.  And  not  only  to  Victor,  but  likewise  to 
the  most  of  the  other  rulers  of  the  churches,  he  sent  letters  of  ex- 
hortation on  the  agitated  question. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

All  agree  to  one  opinion  respecting  the  passover. 

The  bishops  indeed  of  Palestine,  whom  we  have  just  men 
doned.  Narcissus  and  Theophilus,  and  Cassius  with  them,  the 
bishop  of  the  church  at  Tyre,  and  Clarus  of  Ptolemais,  and  those 
that  came  together  with  them,  having  advanced  many  things 
respecting  the  tradition  that  had  been  handed  down  to  them  by 
succession  from  the  apostles,  regarding  the  passover,  at  the  close 
of  the  epistle,  use  these  words :  "  Endeavour  to  send  copies  of 
the  epistle  through  all  the  church,  that  we  may  not  give  occasion 
to  those  whose  minds  are  easily  led  astray.  But  we  inform  you 
also,  that  they  observe  the  same  day  at  Alexandria,  which  we 
also  do  ;  for  letters  have  been  sent  by  us  to  them,  and  from  them 
to  us,  so  that  we  celebrate  the  holy  season  with  one  mind  and  at 
one  time." 


212  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  elegant  loorks  of  Irencms  that  have  come  down  to  us. 

Besides  the  works  and  epistles  of  Irenaeus  abovementioned, 
there  is  a  certain  very  brief  and  most  important  discourse  by  him 
On  Knoidedge,  against  the  Greeks ;  another  also,  which  he  dedi- 
cated to  his  brother  named  Marcion,  as  a  proof  of  the  apostolic 
preaching ;  a  book  also  of  various  disputes,  in  which  he  mentions 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews ;  and  the  book  called  the  Wisdom  of 
Solomon,  quoting  certain  passages  from  them.  These  are  the 
works  of  Irenaeus  that  have  come  down  to  us.  But  after  Com- 
modus  had  ended  his  reign  in  the  thirteenth  year,  and  Pertinax 
had  held  the  government  not  quite  six  months,  Severus  was 
created  emperor,  and  ruled  the  state. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  works  of  others  that  flourished  at  the  time. 

Numerous  works,  indeed,  of  ancient  ecclesiastical  writers  are 
still  preserved  by  many,  the  monuments  of  a  virtuous  industry. 
Those  which  we  would  select  of  them,  might  be  the  commenta- 
ries of  Heraclitus  On  the  Apostle ;  the  works  of  Maximus,  also, 
on  that  question  so  much  agitated  among  the  heretics.  The  Origin 
of  Evil;  also,  On  the  Creation  of  Matter.  Also,  the  works  of 
Candidas  On  the  Hexaemeron.*  And  Apion's  work  on  the  same 
subject.  Sextus,  also.  On  the  Resurrection,  and  a  certain  other 
treatise  of  Arabianus,  with  many  others,  of  whom,  as  we  have 
no  data,  we  can  neither  insert  the  times  nor  any  extracts  in  our 
history.  Innumerable  others  there  also  are,  that  have  come 
down  to  us,  even  the  names  of  whom  it  would  be  impossible  to 
give.     All  of  these  were  orthodox  and  ecclesiastical  writers  as 

•  The  Greek  name,  designalinpr  the  six  days  of  the  creation. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  213 

the  interpretation  which  each  gives  of  the  sacred  Scriptures 
shows ;  yet  they  are  not  known  to  us,  hecause  the  works  them 
selves  do  not  give  their  authors. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 


Those  that  followed  the  heresy  of  Artemon,  in  the  beginning. 
Their  character  and  co?iduct;  and  their  attempt  at  corrupting 
the  Scriptures. 

In  a  work  written  by  a  certain  one  of  these  authors  against 
the  heresy  of  Artemon,  which  Paul  of  Samosata  again  attempt- 
ed to  revive  among  us,  there  is  a  narrative  well  adapted  to  the 
history  we  are  now  investigating.  This  writer,  not  long  since,  in 
refuting  the  heresy  mentioned,  which  asserts  that  Christ  is  a  mere 
man,  since  its  leaders  wish  to  boast  as  if  it  were  the  ancient  doc- 
trine, besides  many  other  arguments  that  he  adduces  in  refuta- 
tion of  their  impious  falsehood,  he  gives  the  following  account: 
" For  they  assert,"  says  he,  "that  all  those  primitive  men  and 
the  apostles  themselves,  both  received  and  taught  these  things  as 
they  are  now  taught  by  them,  and  that  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
was  preserved  until  the  times  of  Victor,  who  was  the  thirteenth 
bishop  of  Rome  from  Peter.  But  that  from  his  successor  Zephy- 
rinus,  the  truth  was  mutilated.  And  perchance  what  they  say 
might  be  credible,  were  it  not  that  the  holy  Scriptures  contra- 
diet  them ;  and  then,  also,  there  are  works  of  certain  brethren 
older  than  Victor's  times,  which  they  wrote  in  defence  of  the 
truth,  and  against  the  heresies  then  prevailing.  I  speak  of  Justus 
and  Miltiades,  and  Tatian  and  Qement,  and  many  others,  in  all 
which  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  asserted.  For  who  knows  not  the 
works  of  Ircna^us  and  Melito,  and  the  rest,  in  which  Christ  is  an- 
nounced as  God  and  man?  V^hatever  psalms  and  hymns  were 
written  by  the  brethren  from  the  beginning,  celebrate  Christ  the 
word  of  God,  by  asserting  his  divinity.  How  then  could  it  hap- 
pen, that  since  the  doctrine  of  the  church  has  been  proclaimed 
for  so  many  years,  that  those  until  the  times  of  Victor,  preached 


214  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  gospel  after  this  manner  ?  And  how  are  they  so  devoid  ol 
shame  to  utter  these  falsehoods  against  Victor,  well  knowing  that 
Victor  excommunicated  that  currier  Theodotus,  the  leader  and 
father  of  this  God-denying  apostacy,  as  the  first  one  that  asserted 
Christ  was  a  mere  man.  For  had  Victor  entertained  the  senti- 
ments which  their  impious  doctrine  promulgates,  how  could  he 
have  expelled  Theodotus,  the  inventor  of  this  heresy?"  Thus 
much  with  respect  to  Victor.  But  after  this  author  had  super- 
intended the  church,  Zephyrinus  was  appointed  his  successor 
about  the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  Severus.  The  same  author 
that  composed  the  book  already  mentioned  respecting  the  founder 
of  this  heresy,  also  adds  an  account  of  another  event  that  occur- 
red in  the  times  of  Zephyrinus,  in  these  words :  "  I  shall  remind 
many  of  the  brethren  of  a  fact,"  says  he,  "  that  happened  in  our 
days,  which,  had  it  happened  in  Sodom,  I  think  would  have  led 
them  to  reflection.  There  was  a  certain  Natalius,  who  lived  not 
in  remote  times,  but  in  our  own.  This  man  was  seduced  on  a 
certain  occasion  by  Asclepiodotus,  and  another  Theodotus,  a 
moneychanger.  Both  of  these  were  disciples  of  Theodotus  the 
currier,  the  first  that  had  been  excommunicated  by  Victor,  then 
bishop,  as  before  said,  on  account  of  this  opinion  or  rather  insanity. 
Natalius  was  persuaded  by  them  to  be  created  a  bishop  of  this 
heresy,  with  a  salary  from  them  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  denarii 
a  month.  Being  connected,  therefore,  with  them,  he  was  fre- 
quently brought  to  reflection  by  the  Lord  in  his  dreams.  For 
the  merciful  God  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  would  not  that  he 
who  had  been  a  witness  of  his  own  sufferings,  should  perish, 
though  he  was  out  of  the  church.  But  as  he  paid  but  little  at- 
tention to  these  visions,  being  ensnared  both  by  tlie  desire  of  pre- 
siding among  them,  and  that  fovd  gain  which  destroys  so  many,  he 
was  finally  lashed  by  holy  angels,  through  the  whole  night,  and 
was  thus  most  severely  punished ;  so  that  he  arose  early  in  the 
morning,  and  putting  on  sackcloth  and  covered  with  ashes,  in 
great  haste,  and  bathed  in  tears,  he  fell  down  before  Zephyrinus 
the  bishop,  rolling  at  the  feet  not  only  of  the  clergy  but  even  of 
the  laity,  and  thus  moved  the  compassionate  church  of  Christ 
with  his  tears.     And,  although  he  implored  tlieir  clemency  with 


ECCLESIASTICAL  mSTORY.  215 

much  earnestness,  and  pointed  to  the  strokes  of  the  lashes  he  had 
received,  he  was  at  last  scarcely  admitted  to  communion."  To 
this,  we  will  also  add  other  extracts  from  the  same  writer  respect- 
ing this  sect :  "  The  sacred  Scriptures,"  says  he,  "  have  been 
boldly  perverted  by  them ;  the  rule  of  the  ancient  faith  they 
have  set  aside,  Christ  they  have  renounced,  not  inquiring  what 
the  hofy  Scriptures  declared,  but  zealously  labouring  v.'hat  form 
of  reasoning  may  be  devised  to  establish  their  impiety.  And 
should  any  one  present  a  passage  of  divine  truth,  they  examined 
first  v^^hether  a  connected  or  disjoined  form  of  syllogism*  can  be 
formed  from  it.  But  they  abandon  the  holy  Scriptures  for  the 
study  of  geometry,!  as  being  of  the  earth  they  talk  of  the  earth, 
and  know  not  him  that  cometh  from  above.  Euclid,  therefore, 
is  industriously  measured^  by  them.  Aristotle  and  Theophrastus, 
are  also  admired,  and  as  to  Galen,  he  is  even  perhaps  worshipped 
by  some.  But  as  to  these  men  who  abuse  the  acts  of  the  unbe- 
lievers, to  their  own  heretical  views,  and  who  adulterate  the 
simplicity  of  that  faith  contained  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  by  the 
wily  arts  of  impious  men;  where  is  the  necessity  of  asserting 
that  they  are  not  right  in  the  faith  1  For  this  purpose  they  fear- 
lessly lay  their  hands  upon  the  holy  Scriptures,  saying  that  they 
have  corrected  them.     And  that  I  do  not  say  this  against  them 

*  Logicians  call  the  syllogisms  here  spoken  of,  hypothetical  and  disjunctive.  In 
the  former,  the  premises  arc  supposed;  in  the  latter,  they  are  separated  by  a  dis- 
junctive conjunction,  whence  their  names. 

-j-  The  author  whose  words  are  here  quoted,  plays  upon  the  word  geometry,  in 
its  original.  The  word  literally  means  earth  or  land-measuring.  The  science 
appears  to  owe  its  origin  to  the  necessity  of  frequently  measuring  the  lands  in 
Egypt,  after  the  inundations  of  the  Nile;  and  when  reduced  to  its  more  abstract 
principles,  it  still  continued  to  bear  its  original  name.  The  author  here  quoted 
seems  to  reprove,  in  these  men,  an  absorbing  devotedness  to  a  science,  the  study 
of  which  is  doubtless  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  disciplining  the  human  mind,  inde- 
pendently of  its  practical  utility.  It  was  considered  so  important  a  preparatory 
disciphne  among  the  ancients,  that  the  words  o^^i.,-  '^yn^i'.iTf^roi  u,J<  £.0-4^5,  were 
written  over  the  gates  of  their  philosophical  schools. 

+  Measured.']  Another  play  upon  the  word  geometry,  the  force  of  which  is 
entirely  lost  in  a  translation.  The  author  had  already  hinted  that  this  was  only 
an  earthly  study;  and  now  he  sarcastically  remarks,  EucUd  is  earth  measured  bv 
thorn. 

21 


216  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

without  foundation,  whoever  wishes  may  learn ;  for  should  any 
one  collect  and  compare  their  copies  one  with  another,  he  would 
find  them  greatly  at  variance  among  themselves.  For  the 
copies  of  Asclepiodotus  will  be  found  to  differ  from  those  of 
Theodotus.  Copies  of  many  you  may  find  in  abundance,  al- 
tered, by  the  eagerness  of  their  disciples  to  insert  each  one  his 
own  corrections,  as  they  call  them,  i.  e.  their  corruptions.  Again, 
the  copies  of  Hermophilus  do  not  agree  with  these,  for  those  of 
Appollonius  are  not  consistent  with  themselves.  For  one  may 
compare  those  which  were  prepared  before  by  them,  with  those 
which  they  afterwards  perverted  for  their  own  objects,  and  you 
will  find  them  widely  differing.  But  what  a  stretch  of  audacity 
this  aberration  indicates,  it  is  hardly  probable  themselves  can  be 
ignorant.  For  either  they  do  not  believe  that  the  holy  Scriptures 
were  uttered  by  the  holy  Spirit,  and  they  are  thus  infidels,  or  they 
deem  themselves  wiser  than  the  holy  Spirit,  and  what  alternative 
is  there  but  to  pronounce  them  daemoniacs?  For  neither  can  they 
deny  that  they  have  been  guilty  of  the  daring  act,  when  the 
copies  were  written  with  their  own  hand,  nor  did  they  receive 
such  Scriptures  from  those  by  whom  they  were  instructed  in  the 
elements  of  the  faith ;  nor  can  they  show  copies  from  which  they 
were  transcribed.  But  some  of  them  did  not  even  deign,  or 
think  it  worth  while,  to  mutilate  the  Scriptures,  but  directly  de- 
nying the  law  and  the  prophets  by  their  lawless  and  impious 
doctrine,  under  the  pretext  of  grace,  they  sunk  down  to  the  low- 
est depths  of  perdition."     But  let  this  suffice  on  this  subject. 


BOOK   VI. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  persecution  under  Severus. 

But  when  Severus  raised  a  persecution  against  the  churches, 
there  were  illustrious  testimonies  given  by  the  combatants  of  re- 
ligion in  all  the  churches  every  where.  They  particularly 
abounded  in  Alexandria,  whilst  Ihe  heroic  wrestlers  from  Egypt 
and  Thebais  were  escorted  thither  as  to  a  mighty  theatre  of 
God,  where,  by  their  invincible  patience  under  various  tortures 
and  modes  of  death,  they  were  adorned  with  crowns  from 
heaven.  Among  these  was  Leonides,  said  to  be  the  father  of 
Origen,  who  was  beheaded,  and  left  his  son  behind  yet  very 
young.  His  early  predilection  for  the  divine  word,  as  instructed 
by  his  father,  it  is  not  out  of  place  here  briefly  to  state,  so  much 
the  more  especially  as  his  fame  is  celebrated  by  many. 


CHAPTER  11. 

The  education  of  Origen,  from  his  earliest  youth. 

One  might,  indeed,  say  much  in  attempting  to  write  the  Kfe 
of  the  man  at  school,  for  the  subject  respecting  him  would  require 
a  particular  and  separate  work.  Nevertheless,  for  the  pre- 
sent, we  shall  endeavour  by  abridging  the  most  of  the  materials, 
as  briefly  as  possible  to  relate  some  few  events  respecting  him, 
and  adduce  the  facts  from  certain  epistles  and  histories  which 
have  come  down  to  our  own  day,  by  those  of  his  familiar  friends 
who  are  yet  living.  The  life  of  Origen,  indeed,  appears  to  me 
worthy  of  being  recorded,  even  from  his  tender  infancy.  It  was 
2E  217 


218  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

in  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Severus,  when  Alexandria  and 
the  rest  of  Egypt  was  under  the  government  of  his  viceroy  Lae- 
tus,  and  the  churches  there  were  under  the  episcopal  administra- 
tion of  Demetrius,  the  successor  of  Julian,  that  the  kindled  flame 
of  persecution  blazed  forth  mightily,  and  many  thousands  were 
crowned  with  martyrdom. 

It  w  as  then,  too,  that  the  love  of  martyrdom  so  powerfully 
seized  the  soul  of  Origen,  though  yet  an  almost  infant  boy,  that 
he  advanced  so  close  to  encounter  danger,  and  was  eager  to 
leap  forward  and  rush  upon  the  conflict.  And  indeed,  there  had 
been  now  but  little  wanting,  and  the  termination  of  his  life  had 
not  been  far  oflj  unless  the  heavenly  providence  of  God  for  the 
benefit  of  vast  numbers,  had,  b3^means  of  his  mother,  interposed 
an  impediment  to  his  eager  desire.  She,  indeed,  at  first,  im- 
plored and  entreated  him  to  spare  a  mother's  tenderness  regard- 
ing him,  but  seeing  him  only  the  more  vehemently  bent  upon  it, 
as  he  understood  that  his  father  was  taken  and  kept  a  prisoner, 
and  he  was  wholly  borne  away  by  the  desire  of  becoming  a  mar- 
tyr, his  mother  concealed  his  clothes  in  order  to  compel  him 
to  remain  at  home.  But  when  he  saw  that  there  was  no  other 
course  for  him  to  pursue,  as  his  great  zeal  was  far  beyond  his 
years,  he  could  not  remain  inactive,  but  sent  to  his  father  a  most 
encouraging  letter  on  martyrdom,  in  w^hich  he  encourages  him, 
saying,  "  take  heed,  (father)  not  to  change  thy  mind  on  account 
of  us."  This  may  serve  as  the  first  specimen  that  we  mention 
of  Origen's  shrewdness,  and  his  genuine  devotedness  to  piety. 
For  he  had  even  then  made  no  little  progress  in  the  doctrine  of 
faith,  as  he  had  been  conversant  with  the  holy  Scriptures  even 
when  a  child.  He  had  been  considerably  trained  in  them  by  his 
father,  who,  besides  the  study  of  the  liberal  sciences,  had  also 
carefully  stored  his  mind  with  these.  First  of  all,  therefore,  be- 
fore he  studied  the  Grecian  literature,  he  led  him  to  frequent  ex- 
ercise in  the  study  of  sacred  things,  appointing  him  to  commit 
and  repeat  some  passages  every  day ;  and  these  things  M^ere  not 
xmwillingly  done  by  the  child,  but  studies  most  cheerfully  per- 
formed with  great  diligence.  So  that  it  was  not  sufticient  for 
■him  merely  to  read  what  was  simple  and  obvious  in  the  sacred 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  219 

books,  but  he  sought  also  what  was  beyond  this,  into  the  deeper 
senses  of  the  text,  and  was  busily  employed  in  such  speculations 
even  at  that  age  ;  so  that  he  gave  his  father  trouble,  by  his  ques- 
tions what  forsooth  the  passage  of  the  inspii'ed  Scriptures  should 
mean.  He,  indeed,  to  appearance,  rebuked  him  to  his  face,  tell- 
ing him  not  to  inquire  into  things  beyond  his  age,  nor  to  search 
beyond  the  obvious  meaning  of  Scriptures.  But  he,  greatly  de- 
lighted in  his  own  mind,  gave  most  hearty  thanks  to  Almighty 
God,  the  author  of  all  good,  that  he  had  honoured  him  to  be  the 
father  of  such  a  child.  And  they  say,  that  frequently,  when 
standing  over  his  sleeping  boy,  he  would  uncover  his  breast,  and 
as  a  shrine  consecrated  by  the  divine  Spirit,  he  reverently  kissed 
it  and  congratulated  himself  upon  his  favoured  offspring.  These 
and  other  similar  circumstances  are  related  of  Origen  w^hen  yet 
a  boy.  But  now,  as  his  father  had  ended  his  days  a  martyr,  he  is 
left  in  this  bereaved  condition  with  his  mother  and  younger 
brothers,  in  number  six,  when  he  was  yet  in  his  seventeenth  year. 
And  as  his  father's  property  was  forfeited  to  the  imperial  trea- 
sury, he  was  reduced  with  his  relatives  to  great  straits  for  the 
necessaries  of  life.  But  he  was  honoured  with  a  provision  from 
God.  For  he  found  a  kind  reception  and  retreat  with  a  certain 
lady  of  great  wealth  and  distinction ;  but  who  at  the  same  time 
patronized  a  certain  celebrated  man  who  was  an  advocate  of  the 
heretics  then  existing  in  Alexandria.  This  man  was  a  native  of 
Antioch,  and  was  taken  home  by  the  lady  as  an  adopted  son,  and 
was  treated  with  the  greatest  kindness  by  her.  But  as  Origen 
thus  necessarily  associated  with  him,  he  thenceforth  gave  him 
strong  specimens  of  his  orthodox  faith.  As  great  numbers  not 
only  of  heretics  but  ours  also,  induced  by  the  apparent  eloquence 
of  the  man,  collected  to  hear  this  Paul,  for  that  was  his  name, 
he  could  never  be  induced  to  join  with  him  in  prayer,  observing 
even  from  a  boy  that  rule  of  the  church,  and  as  he  himself  says, 
somewhere,  abominating  the  inculcation  of  heretical  doctrines. 
But  as  he  had  been  instructed  by  his  father  in  Greek  literature, 
and  after  his  death  devoted  himself  more  ardently  to  the  sole 
study  of  literature,  so  that  he  acquired  a  tolerable  acquaintance 
with  philology,  be  devoted  himself  not  long  after  his  father's 
21* 


220  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

death  to  this  study,  and  young  as  he  was,  he  thus  acquired  sul- 
ficient  to  supply  his  necessary  wants  in  abundance. 


CHAPTER    III. 

When  a  very  young  man  he  preached  the  Gospel. 

But  whilst  he  was  thus  engaged  with  his  school  where  he 
abode,  as  he  somewhere  states,  and  there  was  no  one  at  Alexan- 
dria that  applied  himself  to  give  instruction  in  tlie  principles  of  the 
faith,  but  all  driven  away  by  the  threatening  aspect  of  pei'secution, 
some  of  the  Gentiles  came  to  him  with  a  mind  to  hear  the  word  of 
God.  The  first  of  whom,  he  states,  was  Plutarch ;  who,  after  a 
life  of  piety,  was  also  crowned  with  divine  martyrdom.  The 
second  was  Heraclas,  the  brother  of  Plutarch,  who,  indeed,  having 
given  abundant  proof  of  a  life  of  retired  contemplation  and  dis- 
cipline, was  deemed  worthy  of  the  episcopate  of  Alexandria  after 
Demetrius.  But  he  was  in  his  eighteenth  year  when  he  conducted 
the  school  for  elementary  instruction  in  the  faith,  in  which  also 
he  made  great  proficiency  under  the  persecutions  of  Aquila  go- 
vernor of  Alexandria;  where,  also,  he  obtained  a  celebrated 
name  with  all  the  believers,  on  account  of  that  cordiality  and 
promptness  which  he  exhibited  to  all  the  martyrs,  whether  known 
to  him  or  not.  For  not  only  was  he  with  them  when  in  bonds, 
nor  only  until  the  last  of  their  trial  at  the  tribunal ;  but,  e'ven 
after  this,  when  led  away  to  die,  he  conversed  freely  with  these 
holy  martyrs,  and  advanced  in  the  face  of  danger.  So,  that  as  he 
boldly  proceeded,  and  with  great  freedom  saluted  the  brethren 
with  a  kiss,  the  infuriate  multitude  who  stood  around  had  more 
than  once  almost  overwhelmed  him  (w^ith  stones),  had  he  not  this 
once  experienced  the  helping  hand  of  God,  and  wonderfully  es- 
caped. But  this  same  celestial  grace,  at  one  time  and  another, 
again  and  again,  and  indeed  no  one  can  tell  how  often,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  great  zeal  for  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  his  fear- 
lessness, as  often  protected  him  in  danger.     So  great,  indeed,  was 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  221 

the  hostility  of  the  unbelievers  to  him,  that  they  formed  them- 
selves into  companies,  to  station  soldiers  about  the  house  where 
he  abode,  on  account  of  the  numbers  that  were  instructed  by 
him  in  the  principles  of  the  faith.  But  the  persecution  against 
him  daily  blazed  forth  with  such  virulence,  that  the  whole  city 
of  Alexandria  could  no  longer  contain  him,  as  he  removed  from 
house  to  house,  driven  about  in  every  direction,  on  account  of  the 
great  number  of  those  that  had  been  brought  over  by  him  to  the 
true  faith,  since  also  his  daily  actions  aflbrded  admirable  specimens 
of  a  conduct  resulting  from  a  sound  philosophy.  For,  "  as  his 
doctrine,  say  they,  so  was  his  life ;  and  as  his  life,  so  also  was  his 
doctrine."  Wherefore,  also,  with  the  divine  assistance,  he  in- 
duced numbers  to  imitate  him.  But  when  he  saw  a  greater 
number  of  pupils  coming,  the  instruction  of  them  having  been 
committed  to  him  entirely  by  Demetrius  the  bishop  of  the  church, 
he  thought  that  to  teach  literature  exclusively*  was  inconsistent 
with  the  study  of  divine  truth,  and  without  delay  abandoned  the 
school  of  philosophy,  as  useless,  and  an  obstruction  to  his  sacred 
studies.  Then,  also,  with  a  becoming  consideration  that  he  might 
not  stand  in  need  of  aid  from  others,  he  disposed  of  whatsoever 
works  he  had  formerly  written  on  ancient  works,  and  composed 
with  great  elegance  and  taste,  and  was  content  with  receiving  four 
oboU  f  the  day  from  the  purchaser.  Many  years  he  continued 
to  lead  this  life  of  philosophy,J  completely  removing  all  the  in- 
centives to  youthful  passions  from  him,  during  the  whole  day 

*■  Literature  exclusively.']  We  have  added  the  word  exclusively  as  the  obvious 
meaning.  Origen  could  not,  without  great  inconsistency,  consider  the  business  of 
literary  instruction  as  hostile  to  the  study  of  divine  things,  nor  does  this  appear  to 
have  been  his  opinion.  But  the  exclusive  occupation  of  such  a  teacher  in  his  re- 
lative situation  was  incompatible  with  a  higher  duty.  We  have  also  rendered 
ypx/4^xT.zoi  xcyo.,  contrary  to  our  predecessors,  by  the  terms  literature  and  philo- 
logy. Others  render  grammar,  but  seem  to  have  overlooked  the  fact,  that  the 
terms,  beside  the  grammatical  study  of  a  language,  also  comprehended  the  whole 
compass  of  philology  and  the  belles  lettres. 

•{■  Oboli.']     The  obolus  was  a  small  coin,  about  two  or  three  cents  in  value. 

+  Philosophy.']  Our  author  uses  this  word,  when  applied  to  the  primitive  Christ- 
ians, in  a  practical  sense,  mdicating  the  austerity  of  life  and  self-denial  which  they 
exercised. 


222  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

undergoing  no  trifling  amount  of  laborious  exercise,  and  at  night 
devoting  himself  the  most  of  the  time  to  the  study  of  the  holy 
Scriptures,  and  restraining  himself,  as  far  as  possible,  by  a  most 
rigid  and  philosophical  life.  Sometimes  he  was  exercised  in  the 
discipline  of  fasting ;  then,  again,  at  night,  he  limited  his  times 
for  sleep,  which,  in  consequence  of  his  great  zeal,  he  never  en- 
joyed on  his  bed,  but  upon  the  bare  ground.  But,  most  of  all,  he 
thought  that  the  evangelical  precepts  of  our  Saviour  should  be 
observed,  in  which  he  exhorts  that  we  should  not  have  two  coats, 
nor  make  use  of  shoes,  nor  pass  our  time  in  cares  for  the  future. 
But  indulging,  also,  an  ardour  greater  than  his  years,  he  perse- 
vered in  cold  and  nakedness ;  and  advancing  to  the  greatest  ex- 
tremes of  poverty,  astonished,  most  of  all,  his  nearest  friends. 
Many,  indeed,  that  wished  to  impart  to  him  some  of  their  means, 
were  grieved  on  account  of  the  laborious  toil  that  he  endured  for 
the  sake  of  inspired  truth.  He  did  not,  however,  relax  in  his 
perseverance.  He  is  said,  indeed,  to  have  walked  the  ground 
for  many  years  without  any  shoes ;  and  also  to  have  abstained 
from  the  use  of  wine  and  other  food  not  necessary  for  sustenance, 
many  years.  So  that  now  he  was  greatly  in  danger  of  subvert- 
ing and  destroying  his  constitution.*  But  in  presenting  such 
specimens  of  his  ascetic  life  to  the  beholders,  he  naturally  in- 
duced many  of  his  visiters  to  pursue  the  same  course ;  so  that 
now  many,  both  of  the  unbelieving  heathen,  and  some  of  the 
learned,  and  even  philosophers  of  no  mean  account,  were  pre- 
vailed upon  to  adopt  his  doctrine.  Some  of  these,  also,  having 
been  deeply  imbued  by  him,  with  the  sound  faith  in  Christ  deeply 
implanted  in  the  soul,  were  also  eminent  in  the  midst  of  the  per- 
secution then  prevailing ;  so  that  some  were  taken,  and  finished 
their  course  by  martyrdom. 

•  The  word  used  here  is  3-a)px5,  the  chest. 


,  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY-  223 

CHAPTER   IV. 

The  number  of  his  catechujnens  that  suffered  martyrdom. 

Of  these,  then,  the  first  was  that  Plutarch,  mentioned  above, 
at  whose  martyrdom  when  led  away  to  die,  the  same  Origen 
of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  being  present  with  him  to  the 
last  of  his  life,  was  nearly  slain  by  his  own  countrymen,  as  if  he 
were  the  cause  of  his  death.  But  the  providence  of  God  pre- 
served him  likewise  then.  But  after  Plutarch,  the  second  of 
Origen's  disciples  that  was  selected,  was  Severus,  who  presented 
in  the  fire,  a  proof  of  that  unshaken  faith  which  he  had  received. 
The  third  that  appeared  as  martyr  from  the  same  school,  was 
Heraclides ;  and  the  fourth,  after  him,  was  Heron :  both  of  these 
were  beheaded.  Besides  these,  the  fifth  of  this  school  that  was 
announced  a  champion  for  religion,  was  another  Severus,  who, 
after  a  long  series  of  tortures,  is  said  to  have  been  beheaded. 
Of  women,  also,  Herais,  who  was  yet  a  catechumen,  and,  as 
Origen  himself  expresses  it,  after  receiving  her  baptism  by  fire, 
departed  this  life. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Of  Potamicena. 


But,  among  these,  Basilidps  must  be  numbered  the  seventh ;  he 
who  led  away  the  celebrated  Potamiasna  to  execution,  concerning 
whom  many  traditions  are  still  circulated  abroad  among  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  place,  of  the  innumerable  conflicts  she  endured  for 
the  preservation  of  her  purity  and  chastity,  in  which  indeed  she 
was  eminent.  For,  besides  the  perfections  of  her  mind,  she  was 
blooming  also  in  the  maturity  of  personal  attractions.  Many 
things  are  also  related  of  her  fortitude  in  suffering  for  faith  in 
Christ ;  and,  at  length,  after  horrible  tortures  and  pains,  the  very 
relation  of  which  makes  one  shudder,  she  was,  with  her  mother 


224  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Macella,  committed  to  the  flames.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  the 
judge,  Aquila  by  name,  after  having  appHed  the  severest  tortures 
to  her  on  every  part  of  her  body,  at  last  threatened  that  he 
would  give  her  body  to  be  abused  by  the  gladiators ;  but  that  she, 
having  considered  the  matter  a  little,  after  being  asked  what  she 
would  determine,  made  such  a  reply  as  made  it  appear  that  she 
uttered  something  deemed  impious  with  them.  Immediately, 
therefore,  receiving  the  sentence  of  condemnation,  she  was  led 
away  to  die  by  Basilides,  one  of  the  officers  in  the  army.  But 
when  the  multitude  attempted  to  assault  and  insult  her  with 
abusive  language,  he,  by  keeping  oflT,  restrained  their  insolence ; 
exhibiting  the  greatest  compassion  and  kindness  to  her.  Per- 
ceiving the  man's  sympathy,  she  exhorts  him  to  be  of  good  cheer, 
for  that  after  she  was  gone  she  would  intercede  for  him  with  her 
Lord,  and  it  would  not  be  long  before  she  would  reward  him  for 
his  kind  deeds  towards  her.  Saying  this,  she  nobly  sustained 
the  issue ;  having  boiling  pitch  poured  over  different  parts  of  her 
body,  gradually  by  little  and  little,  from  her  feet  up  to  the  crown 
of  her  head.  And  such,  then,  was  the  conflict  which  this  noble 
virgin  endured.  But  not  long  after,  Basilides,  being  urged  to 
swear  on  a  certain  occasion  by  his  fellow-soldiers,  declared  that 
it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  swear  at  all ;  for  he  was  a  Christian, 
and  this  he  plainly  professed.  At  first,  indeed,  they  thought  that 
he  was  thus  far  only  jesting ;  but  as  he  constantly  persevered 
in  the  assertion,  he  was  conducted  to  the  judge,  before  whom, 
confessing  his  determination,  he  was  committed  to  prison.  But 
when  some  of  the  brethren  came  to  see  him,  and  inquired  the 
cause  of  this  sudden  and  singular  resolve,  he  is  said  to  have  de- 
clared, that  Potamiasna,  indeed  for  the  three  days  after  her  mar- 
tyrdom, standing  before  him  at  night,  placed  a  crown  upon  his 
head,  and  said  that  she  had  entreated  the  Lord  on  his  account, 
and  she  had  obtained  her  prayer,  and  that  ere  long  she  would 
take  him  with  her.  On  this,  the  brethren  gave  him  the  seal  * 
in  the  Lord ;  and  he,  bearing  a  distinguished  testimony  to  the 

•  Our  author  here  means  baptism,  which,  in  the  primitive  church,  was  some- 
times thus  figuratively  called. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  225 

Lord,  was  beheaded.  Many  others,  also,  of  those  at  Alexandria, 
are  recorded  as  having  promptly  attached  themselves  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  in  these  times ;  and  this  by  reason  of  Potamiasna, 
who  appeared  in  dreams,  and  exhorted  many  to  embrace  the  di- 
vine word.     But  of  these  let  this  suffice. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Clement  of  Alexandria. 


Clement  having  succeeded  Pantaenus  in  the  office  of  elemen- 
tary instruction,  had  charge  of  it  until  this  time ;  so  that  Ongen, 
whilst  yet  a  boy,  was  one  of  his  pupils.  Clement,  in  the  first  book 
of  the  work  that  he  wrote,  called  Stromata,  gives  us  a  chronolo- 
gical deduction  of  events  down  to  the  death  of  Commodus.  So 
that  it  is  evident  these  works  were  written  in  the  reign  of  Severus, 
whose  times^  we  are  now  recording. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  historian  Judas. 


At  this  time,  also,  another  historian,  discoursing  on  the  seventy 
weeks  of  Daniel,  extends  his  chronology  down  to  the  tenth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Severus,  who  also  thought  that  the  appearance 
of  antichrist,  so  much  in  the  mouths  of  men,  was  now  fully  at 
hand.  So  mightily  did  the  agitation  of  persecution,  then  prevail 
ing,  shake  the  minds  of  many. 


2F 


226  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  resolute  act  of  Origen. 

Whilst  at  this  time  Origen  was  performing  the  office  of  an 
elementary  instructor  at  Alexandria,  he  also  carried  a  deed  into 
effect,  which  would  seem,  indeed,  rather  to  proceed  from  a  youth- 
ful understanding  not  yet  matured ;  at  the  same  time,  ho^vever, 
exhibiting  the  strongest  proof  of  his  faith  and  continence.  For 
understanding  this  expression,  "  There  are  eunuchs  who  have 
made  themselves  such  (who  have  acted  the  eunuch)  for  the  sake 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  in  too  literal  and  puerile  a  sense,  and 
at  the  same  time  thinking  that  he  would  fulfil  the  words  of  our 
Saviour,  whilst  he  also  wished  to  preclude  the  unbelievers  from 
all  occasions  of  foul  slander,  it  being  necessary  for  him,  young  as 
he  was,  to  converse  on  divine  truth  not  only  with  men  but  with 
females  also,  he  was  led  on  to  fulfil  the  words  of  our  Saviour  by 
his  deeds,  expecting  that  it  would  not  be  known  to  the  most  of 
his  friends.  But  it  was  impossible  for  him,  much  as  he  wished 
it,  to  conceal  such  an  act.  And  when  it  was  at  last  ascertained 
by  Demetrius,  the  bishop  of  the  church  there,  well  did  he  admire 
the  courage  of  the  deed;  and  perceiving  the  ardour,  and  the 
soundness  of  his  faith,  he  immediately  exhorts  him  to  cherish  con- 
fidence ;  and  at  this  time,  indeed,  urges  him  the  more  to  continue 
in  his  work  of  instruction.  Such,  indeed,  was  his  conduct  then. 
But  not  long  after  this,  the  same  Demetrius,  seeing  him  doing 
well,  great  and  illustrious,  and  celebrated  among  all,  was  over- 
come by  human  infirmity,  and  wrote  against  him  to  the  bishops 
throughout  the  world,  and  attempted  to  traduce  what  he  had 
done  as  a  most  absurd  act.  Then,  as  the  most  distinguished 
bishops  of  Palestine,  and  those  of  Cesarea  and  Jerusalem,  judged 
Origen  worthy  of  the  first  and  highest  honour,  they  ordained  him 
to  the  presbytery  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  He  advanced^ 
therefore,  at  this  time,  to  great  reputation,  and  obtained  a  cele- 
brity among  all  men,  and  no  little  renown  for  his  virtue  and 
wisdom ;  but  Demetrius,  though  he  had  no  other  charge  to  urge 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  SST 

than  that  act  which  was  formerly  done  by  him  when  but  a  boy, 
raised  a  violent  accusation  against  him.  He  attempted,  also,  to 
involve  those  in  his  accusations  who  had  elevated  him  to  the  pres- 
bytery. These  things  were  done  a  long  time  after.  But  Origen 
performed,  without  fear,  his  labours  of  instruction  at  Alexandria, 
yii^ht  and  day,  to  all  that  came ;  devoting  the  whole  of  his  leisure 
incessantly  to  the  study  of  divine  things,  and  to  those  that  fre- 
quented his  school.  In  the  meanwhile,  Severus,  having  held  the 
government  about  eighteen  years,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  An- 
toninus. At  this  time,  one  of  those  that  had  courageously  en- 
dured the  persecution,  and  who,  by  the  providence  of  God,  had 
been  preserved  after  the  persecution,  was  Alexander,  who  we 
have  already  shown  was  bishop  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and 
had  been  deemed  worthy  of  this  episcopate,  on  account  of  his 
distinguished  firmness  in  his  confession  of  Christ  during  the  perse- 
cution.    This  happened  whilst  Narcissus  was  yet  living. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  miracle  of  JVarcissus. 


Many  miracles  are  attributed  to  Narcissus  by  his  countrymen, 
as  they  received  the  tradition  handed  down  from  the  brethren. 
Among  these  they  relate  a  wonderful  event  like  the  following. 
About  the  great  watch  of  the  passover,  they  say,  that  whilst  the 
deacons  were  keeping  the  vigils  the  oil  failed  them ;  upon  which 
all  the  people  being  very  much  dejected,  Narcissus  commanded 
the  men  that  managed  the  lights  to  draw  water  from  a  neigh- 
bouring well,  and  to  bring  it  to  him.  He  having  done  it  as  soon 
as  said.  Narcissus  prayed  over  the  water,  and  then  commanded 
them  in  a  firm  faith  in  Christ,  to  pour  it  into  the  lamps.  When 
they  had  also  done  this,  contrary  to  all  natural  expectation,  by 
an  extraordinary  and  divine  influence,  the  nature  of  the  water 
was  changed  into  the  quaUty  of  oil,  and  by  most  of  the  brethren 
a  small  quantity  was  preserved  from  that  time  until  our  own,  as  a 
specimen  of  the  wonder  then  performed.  They  relate  also  many 
22 


228  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

other  matters  worthy  of  note  respecting  the  Ufe  of  this  man. 
Among  these,  such  as  the  following.  Certain  fellows  not  being 
able  to  endure  the  firm  and  constant  character  of  his  life,  fearing 
also  lest  they  should  be  taken  and  punished  for  the  numerous 
crimes  of  which  they  were  conscious,  endeavoured  to  anticipate 
him,  by  plotting  an  artifice  against  him.*  They  gave  currency 
therefore  to  a  foul  slander  against  him.  Then,  in  order  to  make 
the  hearers  believe,  they  confirmed  their  accusations  with  oaths ; 
and  one  of  them  swore  that  he  might  perish  with  fire;  another  that 
his  body  might  be  wasted  with  a  miserable  and  foul  disease ;  a 
third  that  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  eyes ;  but  notwithstanding 
their  oaths,  none  of  the  faithful  heeded  them,  on  acconnt  of  the 
well  known  continent  and  virtuous  life  which  Narcissus  had  al- 
ways led.  Unable,  however,  to  endure  the  wickedness  of  these 
men,  and  having  besides  already  long  before  embraced  a  life  of  con- 
templation, he  ran  away  from  the  body  of  the  church,  and  con- 
tinued many  years  concealed  in  deserts  and  trackless  wilds.  But  the 
omnipotent  eye  of  justice  did  not  remain  inactive  in  the  midst  of 
these  things ;  but  soon  descended  with  his  judgments  upon  the 
impious  wretches,  and  bound  them  with  the  curses  they  had 
invoked.  The  first  indeed,  in  consequence  of  a  light  spark  fall- 
ing upon  his  habitation  without  any  apparent  cause,  was  burnt 
with  his  whole  family.  The  next  was  forthwith  cov^ered  with 
the  disease  which  he  had  imprecated  upon  himself,  from  the  ex- 
tremity of  his  feet  to  the  top  of  his  head.  But  the  third,  per- 
ceiving the  events  of  the  former  two,  and  dreading  the  inevitable 
judgment  of  the  all-seeing  God,  confessed  indeed  to  all  the 
slander  which  had  been  concocted  in  common  among  them.  But 
he  was  so  wasted  with  excessive  grieving,  and  so  incessantly  dif- 
fused with  tears,  that  at  last  both  his  eyes  were  destroyed.  And 
these  suffered  the  punishment  due  to  their  calumnies. 

*  The  meaning  is,  that  Narcissus  was  so  rigid  in  his  discipUne,  that  these  slan- 
derers could  not  bear  his  uniform  and  exemplary  life,  whilst  they  were  also  afraid 
af  detection  and  punishment  for  their  own  crimes. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  229 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  bishops  in  Jerusalem. 

Narcissus  having  retired  from  the  world,  and  no  one  knowing 
whither  he  had  gone,  it  seemed  proper  to  the  bishops  of  the  neigh- 
bouring churches,  to  proceed  to  the  ordination  of  another  bishop. 
Dius  was  his  name,  who,  after  presiding  over  the  church  a  short 
time,  was  succeeded  by  Germanio,  and  he  by  Gordius,  in  whose 
times  Narcissus  appearing  again  as  one  raised  from  the  dead,  was 
entreated  by  the  brethren  to  undertake  the  episcopate  again ;  all 
admiring  him  still  more,  both  for  his  retired  life,  and  his  philoso- 
phy, and  above  all  on  account  of  the  punishment  inflicted  by  God 
upon  his  slanderers. 


CHAPTER   XL 

Of  Alexander. 


But  as  on  account  of  his  extreme  age,  he  was  now  no  longer 
able  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office,  by  a  divine  dispensation 
revealed  in  a  dream  at  night,  the  abovementioned  Alexander, 
who  was  bishop  of  another  church,  was  called  to  the  office  at 
the  same  time  with  Narcissus.  Influenced  by  this,  as  if  an  oracle 
from  God  had  commanded  him,  he  performed  a  journey  from 
Cappadocia,  where  he  was  first  made  bishop,  to  Jerusalem,  in 
consequence  of  a  yow  and  the  celebrity  of  the  place.  Whilst 
he  was  there,  most  cordially  entertained  by  the  brethren,  who 
would  not  suflfer  him  to  return  home,  another  revelation  also  ap- 
peared to  them  at  night,  and  uttered  a  most  distinct  communica- 
tion to  those  that  were  eminent  for  a  devoted  life.  This  commu- 
nication was,  that  by  going  forth  beyond  the  gates,  they  should 
receive  the  bishop  pointed  out  to  them  by  God,  Having  done 
this,  with  the  common  consent  of  the  bishops  of  the  neighbouring 
churches,  they  constrain  him  to  stay  among  tliem.     Alexander, 


230  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

indeed,  himself  in  his  particular  epistles  to  the  Antinoites,  which 
are  still  preserved  among  us,  makes  mention  of  the  episcopal 
office  as  shared  by  himself  with  Narcissus,  in  the  following 
words,  at  the  end  of  the  epistle :  "  Narcissus  salutes  you,  the 
same  who  before  me  held  the  episcopate  here,  and  is  now  col- 
leagued  with  me  in  prayers,  being  now  advanced  to  his  hundred 
and  tenth  year,  and  who  with  me  exhorts  you  to  be  of  one  mind." 
Such,  then,  were  these  events.  But  Serapion  dying  at  Antioch, 
he  was  succeeded  by  Asclepiades;  he  also,  was  distinguished 
among  the  confessions*  in  the  persecution.  His  consecration  is 
also  mentioned  by  Alexander,  who  WTites  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Antioch  thus :  "  Alexander,  a  servant  and  prisoner  of  Jesus 
Christ,  sends,  greeting,  in  the  Lord,  to  the  blessed  church  at  An- 
tioch, in  the  Lord.  The  Lord  has  made  my  bonds  easy  and 
light  during  the  time  of  my  imprisonment,  since  I  have  ascer- 
tained, that  by  divine  Providence,  Asclepiades,  who  in  regard  to 
his  faith  is  most  happily  qualified,  has  undertaken  the  trust  of 
the  episcopate  of  your  holy  church."  This  same  epistle  inti- 
mates, that  he  sent  it  by  Clement,  writing  at  the  end  of  it,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  This  epistle,  my  brethren,  I  have  sent  to  you  by  Clement, 
the  blessed  presbyter,  a  man  endued  with  all  virtue,  and  well 
approved,  whom  you  already  know,  and  will  learn  still  more  to 
know ;  who,  also,  coming  hither,  by  the  providence  and  superin- 
tendence of  the  Lord,  has  confirmed  and  increased  the  church 
of  God." 

*  The  primitive  church,  as  is  evident  from  our  author,  distinguished  a  confession 
from  martyrdom.  The  former  implied  all  sufferings  and  trials  for  the  sake  of  re- 
ligion, except  the  loss  of  life.  The  latter  was  attended  with  this  also.  Hence,  the 
latter  was  regarded  as  the  highest  grade  of  confession,  and  as  such  the  martyr,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  confessor,  was  said  to  be  perfected.  The  expression,  there- 
fore, to  be  perfected,  often  occurs  in  our  author,  in  the  sense  of  being  put  to  death. 
This  remark  will  explain  the  expression  as  it  occurs  sometimes  in  the  book  of 
martyrs. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  231 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Serapion,  and  the  uritings  ascribed  to  him. 

Serapion,  however,  it  is  probable,  has  left  many  monuments 
of  his  application  to  learning,  which  are  preserved  by  others ;  but 
only  those  that  are  addressed  to  Domninus  have  com.e  down  to 
us.  He  was  one  of  those  that  had  fallen  away  from  the  faith, 
at  the  time  of  the  persecution,  and  relapsed  into  Jewish  supersti- 
tion. Those  epistles,  also,  that  he  addressed  to  Pontus  and  Cari- 
cus,  ecc'esiastical  writers,  and  many  others  to  others.  There  is 
also  another  work  composed  by  him  on  the  gospel  of  Peter,  as  it 
is  called ;  which,  indeed,  he  wrote  to  refute  the  false  assertions 
which  it  contains,  an  account  of  some  in  the  church  of  Rhosse,* 
who  by  this  work  were  led  astray  to  perverted  doctrines.  From 
which  it  may  be  well  to  add  some  brief  extracts,  by  which  it 
may  be  seen  what  he  thought  of  the  book : — 

"  We,  brethren,"  says  he,  "  receive  Peter  and  the  other  apos- 
tles as  Christ  himself.  But  those  writings  which  falsely  go  under 
their  name,  as  we  are  well  acquainted  with  them,  we  reject,  and 
know  also,  that  we  have  not  received  such  handed  down  to  us. 
But  when  I  came  to  you,  I  had  supposed  that  all  held  to  the  true 
faith ;  and  as  I  had  not  perused  the  gospel  presented  by  them 
under  the  name  of  Peter,  I  said,  '  If  this  be  the  only  thing  that 
creates  difference  among  you,  let  it  be  read ;'  but  now  having 
understood,  froni  what  was  said  to  me,  that  their  minds  were  en- 
veloped in  some  heresy,  I  will  make  haste  to  come  to  you  again ; 
therefore,  brethien,  expect  me  soon.  But  as  we  perceived  what 
was  the  heresy  of  Marcianus,  we  plainly  saw  that  he  ignorantly 
contradicted  himself,  which  things  you  may  learn  from  what  has 
been  written  to  you.  For  we  have  borrowed  this  gospel  from 
others,  who  have  studied  it,  that  is,  from  the  successors  of  those 
who  led  the  way  before  him,  whom  we  call  Docetas,  (for  most 
opinions  hfive  sprung  from  this  sect.)  And  in  this  we  have  dis- 
covered many  things,  superadded  to  the  sound  faith  of  our  Sa- 

•  Rhosse  was  a  town  of  Cilicia.    Plutarch  calls  it  Orossus. 
22^ 


232  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

viour ;  some  also,  attached  that  are  foreign  to  it,  and  which  we 
have  also  subjoined  for  your  sake."  Thus  far  of  the  works  of 
Serapion. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  works  of  Clement. 


Of  Clement  there  are,  in  all,  eight  books  extant,  called  Stro- 
mata,*  to  which  he  has  prefixed  the  following  title :  "  Stromata 
of  Commentaries,  by  Titus  Flavins  Clement,  on  the  Knowledge 
of  the  True  Philosophy." 

Equal  in  number  to  these,  are  the  books  that  go  under  the 
title  of  Hypotyposes,  or  Institutions.  In  these,  he  also  mentions 
Pantasnus  by  name,  as  his  teacher,  giving  the  opinions  that  he 
expressed,  and  traditions  that  he  had  received  from  him.  There 
is  also  a  book  of  exhortation,  addressed  by  him  to  the  Greeks. 
Also,  one  entitled  the  Psedagogue,  and  another  with  the  title, 
"  What  Rich  Man  may  be  saved."  A  work  also  on  the  Passover. 
Discussions  also  on  Fasting  and  Detraction.  An  Exhortatation 
also,  to  Patience,  or  an  Address  to  the  New  Converts.  (Neo- 
phytes.) A  work  also,  with  the  title,  Ecclesiastical  Canon,  or  an 
Address  to  the  Judaizing  (Christians,)  which  he  dedicated  to  the 
abovementioned  bishop  Alexander.  In  these  Stromata,  he  has 
not  only  spread  out|  the  divine  Scriptures  (made  a  spreading),  but 
he  also  quotes  from  the  Gentiles  where  he  finds  any  useful  re- 
mark with  them,  elucidating  many  opinions  held  by  the  multitude 
both  among  the  Greeks  and  barbarians.  Moreover,  he  refutes 
the  false  opinions  of  the  heresiarchs.     He  also,  reviews  a  great 

*  The  Greek  word  siromaleus,  which  Clement  prefixed  as  the  title  to  each  of 
his  books,  means  a  covering,  or  hangings  for  a  table,  or  couch,  mostly  of  various 
colours.  It  also  signified,  in  later  times,  the  bag  in  which  the  beds  and  covers 
were  tied  up.  The  former,  however,  gave  rise  to  the  use  of  it  as  a  title  for  books 
of  various  contents.  Hence,  they  were  miscellanies.  The  plural  of  this  word  is 
stromates,  or  stromateis,  to  avoid  which  we  use  the  synonymous  stromata. 

•j-  Our  author  here  plays  upon  the  title  Stromateus,  giving  us  by  the  way  to  un- 
derstand what  was  meant  by  the  word,  viz.,  a  variegated  covering  spread  out. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  233 

point  of  history,  in  M'hich  he  presents  materials  of  great  variety 
of  learning.  With  all  these  he  intermixes  the  opinions  of  phi- 
losophers; whence,  in  all  probahility,  he  took  the  title  Stromata, 
as  corresponding  to  the  materials  (of  his  book.)  In  these  he  also 
makes  use  of  testimony  from  the  Antilegomenoi,  the  disputed 
Scriptures ;  also  from  that  book  called  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
and  that  of  Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach ;  also  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, that  of  Barnabas,  and  Clement,  and  Jude.  He  mentions 
also  the  work  of  Tatian  against  the  Gi'eeks ;  Cassian,  also,  who 
wrote  a  history  of  the  times  in  chronological  order.  Moreover,  he 
mentions  the  Jewish  authors  Philo,  and  Aristobulus,  Josephus,  and 
Demetrius,  and  Eupolemus,  as  all  of  these  in  their  works  prove, 
that  Moses  and  the  Jewish  nation  are  much  older  than  the  earliest 
origin  of  the  Greeks.  The  works  of  this  writer  here  mentioned, 
also  abound  in  a  great  variety  of  other  learning.  In  the  first  of 
these  he  speaks  of  himself  as  being  the  next  that  succeeded  the 
apostles,  and  he  promises  in  his  works  also,  to  write  a  commen- 
tary on  Genesis ;  also  in  his  treatise  on  the  Passover,  he  acknow- 
ledges that  for  the  benefit  of  posterity,  he  was  urged  by  his 
friends  to  commit  to  writing  those  traditions  that  he  had  heard 
from  the  ancient  presbyters.  He  mentions,  also,  Melito  and  Ire- 
naeus,  and  others,  some  of  whose  narratives  he  also  gives. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  boohs  that  Clement  mentions. 

In  the  work  called  Hypotyposes,  to  sum  up  the  matter  briefly, 
he  has  given  us  abridged  accounts  of  all  the  canonical  Scriptures, 
not  even  omitting  those  that  are  disputed,  (I'he  Antilegomenoi,) 
I  mean  the  book  of  Jude,  and  the  other  general  epistles.  Also  the 
epistle  of  Barnabas,  and  that  called  the  revelation  of  Peter.  But 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  he  asserts  was  written  by  Paul,  to  the 
Hebrews,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue ;  but  that  it  was  carefully  trans- 
lated by  Luke,  and  published  among  the  Greeks.  Whence,  also, 
one  finds  the  same  character  of  style  and  of  phraseology  in  the 
20 


-'i> 


234  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY, 

epistle,  as  in  the  Acts.  "  But  it  is  probable  that  the  title,  Paul 
the  Apostle,  was  not  prefixed  to  it.  For  as  he  wrote  to  the  He-, 
brews,  who  had  imbibed  prejudices  against  him,  and  suspected 
him,  he  wisely  guards  against  diverting  them  from  the  perusal, 
W  giving  his  name."  A  little  after  this  he  observes :  "  But  now  as 
the  blessed  presbyter  used  to  say,  '  since  the  Lord  who  was  the 
apostle  of  the  Almighty,  w^as  sent  to  the  Hebrews,  Paul  by  rea- 
son of  his  inferiority,  as  if  sent  to  the  Gentiles,  did  not  subscribe 
himself  an  apostle  of  the  Hebrews ;  both  out  of  reverence  for 
the  Lord,  and  because  he  wrote  of  his  abundance  to  the  Hebrews, 
as  a  herald  and  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.' "  Again,  in  the  same 
work,  Clement  also  gives  the  tradition  respecting  the  order  of  the 
gospels,  as  derived  from  the  oldest  presbyters,  as  follows :  "  He 
says  that  those  which  contain  the  genealogies  were  written  first ; 
but  that  the  gospel  of  Mark  was  occasioned  in  the  following 
manner :  '  When  Peter  had  proclaimed  the  word  publicly  at 
Rome,  and  declared  the  gospel  under  the  influence  of  the  spirit ; 
as  there  was  a  great  number  present,  they  requested  Mark,  who 
had  followed  him  from  afar,  and  remembered  well  what  he  had 
said,  to  reduce  these  things  to  writing,  and  that  after  composing 
the  gospel  he  gave  it  to  those  who  requested  it  of  him.  Which, 
when  Peter  understood,  he  directly  neither  hindered  nor  encou- 
raged it.  But  John,  last  of  all,  perceiving  that  what  had  refer- 
ence to  the  body  in  the  gospel  of  our  Saviour,  was  sufiiciently 
detailed,  and  being  encouraged  by  his  familiar  friends,  and  urged 
by  the  spirit,  he  wrote  a  spiritual  gospel.' "  Thus  far  Clement. 
But  again,  the  abovementioned  Alexander  mentions  both  Cle- 
ment and  Pantasnus,  in  a  certain  epistle  to  Origen,  as  men  with 
whom  he  was  famiharly  acquainted.  Thus  he  writes :  "For  this, 
thou  knowest  was  the  divine  will,  that  the  friendship  which  has 
existed  between  us  from  our  ancestors,  should  remain  unshaken, 
rather  that  it  should  grow  warmer  and  firmer.  For  we  well 
know  those  blessed  fathers,  that  have  trod  the  path  before  us, 
and  to  whom  we  ere  long  shall  go.  Panta^nus,  that  truly  blessed 
man,  my  master,  also  the  holy  Clement,  who  was  both  my  mas- 
ter and  benefactor,  and  whoever  there  may  be  like  them,  by 
whom  I  have  become  acquainted  witli  thee,  my  Lord  and  brother 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY^  235 

surpassing  all."  Such  is  the  complexion  of  these  matters.  But 
•Adamantius,  for  this  too  was  Origen's  name,  whilst  Zephyrinus, 
at  this  time,  was  bishop  of  the  church  of  Rome,  says  that  he  also 
came  to  Rome,  being  desirous  of  seeing  the  very  ancient  church 
of  Rome.  After  no  long  stay,  he  returned  to  Alexandria,  and 
there  fulfilled  the  duties  of  an  instructor,  with  the  greatest  dih- 
gence,  in  which  he  was  also  encouraged  by  Demetrius  who  was 
then  bishop,  and  who  earnestly  counselled  him  to  labour  cheer- 
fully for  the  benefit  of  the  brethren. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Of  Heraclas. 


But  when  he  saw  that  he  was  not  adequate  at  the  same  time 
to  the  more  intense  study  of  divine  things,  and  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  and  in  addition  to  the  instruction  of  the 
catechumens,  who  scarcely  allowed  him  even  to  draw  breath, 
one  coming  after  another  from  morning  till  night,  to  be  taught  by 
him,  he  divided  the  multitude,  and  selected  Heraclas,  one  of  his 
friends,  who  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  in' 
other  respects  also  a  most  learned  man,  not  unacquainted  with 
philosophy,  and  associated  him  with  himself  in  the  ofiice  of  in- 
struction. To  him,  therefore,  he  committed  the  elementary  ini- 
tiation of  those  that  were  yet  to  be  taught  the  first  beginning, 
or  rudiments,  but  reserved  for  himself  lecturing  to  those  that 
were  more  famihar  with  the  subject. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  great  study  ichich  Origen  devoted  to  the  holy  Scriptures. 

But  so  great  was  the  research  which  Origen  applied  in  the 
investigation  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  that  he  also  studied  the  He- 
brew language ;  and  those  original  works  written  in  the  Hebrew 


236  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  he  procured  as  liis  own.  He  also 
investigated  the  editions  of  others,  who,  besides  the  seventy,  had 
published  translations  of  the  Scriptures,  and  some  ditferent  from 
the  well  known  translations  of  Aquila,  Symmachus  and  Theodo- 
tion,  which  he  searched  up,  and  traced  to  1  know  not  what  an- 
cient lurking  places,  where  they  had  lain  concealed  from  remote 
times,  and  brought  them  to  the  light.  In  which,  when  it  was 
doubtful  to  him  from  what  author  they  came,  he  only  added  the 
remark  that  he  had  found  this  translation  at  Nicopolis  near  Ac- 
tium,  but  this  other  translation  in  such  a  place.  In  the  Hexapla, 
indeed,  of  the  Psalms,  after  those  four  noted  editions  he  adds,  not 
only  a  fifth,  but  a  sixth,  and  seventh  translation,  and  in  one  it  is 
remarked  that  it  was  discovered  at  Jericho,  in  a  tub,  in  the  times 
of  Antonine  the  son  of  Severus.  Having  collected  all  these  ver- 
sions, and  divided  them  by  punctuation  into  their  proper  mem- 
bers, and  arranged  them  opposite  one  another  in  parallel  co- 
lumns, together  with  the  Hebrew  texts,  he  left  us  those  copies 
of  the  Hexapla  which  we  now  have.  In  a  separate  work  he  also 
prepared  an  edition  of  Aquila  and  Symmachus,  and  Theodotion, 
together  with  the  Septuagint,  in  what  is  called  the  Tetrapla. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Of  the  translator  Symmachus. 

Of  these  translators  it  should  be  observed  that  Symmachus  was 
an  Ebionite ;  but  the  heresy  of  the  Ebionites  as  it  is  called,  asserts 
that  Christ  was  born  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  and  supposes  him  to 
be  a  mere  man,  and  insists  upon  an  observance  of  the  law  too 
much  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  as  we  have  already  seen  in 
a  previous  part  of  our  history.  There  are  also  commentaries  of 
Symmachus  still  extant,  in  which  he  appears  to  direct  his  re- 
marks against  the  gospel  of  Matthew,  in  order  to  establish  this 
heresy.  But  Origen  remarks  that  he  received  these  with  in- 
terpretations of  others,  from  one  Juliana,  who,  he  also  said,  de 
rived  them  by  inheritance  from  Symmachus  himself. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  237 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 

Of  Ambrose. 

About  this  time  also,  Ambrose,  who  had  favoured  the  heresy 
of  Valentinus,  being  convinced  by  the  truth  as  maintained  by 
^Origen,  and  as  if  illuminated  by  a  light  beaming  on  his  mind, 
became  attached  to  the  sound  doctrine  of  the  church.  Many 
others,  also,  induced  by  the  celebrity  of  Origen's  learning,  came 
to  him  from  all  parts,  to  make  trial  of  the  man's  skill  in  sacred 
literature.  Many  also  of  the  heretics,  and  of  distinguished  philo- 
sophers not  a  few,  were  among  his  diligent  hearers,  deriving  in- 
structions from  him,  not  only  in  divine  things  but  also  in  those 
which  belonged  to  foreign  philosophy.  As  many  as  he  saw  en- 
dowed with  abilities,  he  also  taught  the  philosophical  branches, 
such  as  geometry,  arithmetic,  and  other  preparatory  studies  ;  and 
then  advancing  them  to  the  opinions  in  vogue  -^mong  the  philoso- 
phers, and  explaining  their  writings,  he  commented  and  speculated 
upon  each,  so  that  he  was  celebrated  as  a  great  philosopher 
even  among  the  Greeks.  He  also  instructed  many  of  the  more 
common  people  in  the  liberal  studies,  asserting  frequently  that 
they  would  receive  no  small  advantage  from  these  in  understand- 
ing the  holy  Scriptures ;  whence  also  he  considered  the  studies 
of  political  and  philosophical  matters  particularly  necessary  for 
himself. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  accounts  given  of  Origen  by  others. 

But  the.  Gentile  philosophers,  themselves,  among  the  Greeks 
who  flourished  in  the  age  of  Origen,  bear  witness  to  his  profici- 
ency in  these  studies,  in  whose  works  we  find  frequent  mention 
made  of  the  man ;  at  one  time  quoting  his  own  words,  at  another 


238  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

referring  their  own  labours  to  his  judgment  as  to  a  master.  Why 
should  we  say  this,  when  even  Porphyry,  who  was  our  contem- 
porary, wrote  books  against  us,  and  attempted  to  slander  the 
sacred  writings  ;  when  he  mentioned  those  that  had  expounded 
them,  and  when  unable  to  urge  any  opprobrious  censure  against 
the  doctrines,  for  want  of  argument,  he  turned  to  reviling,  and 
to  slander  especially  the  commentators,  among  whom  he  is  par- 
ticularly fierce  against  Origen,  saying  that  he  knew  him  when, 
he  was  a  young  man.  But,  in  fact,  without  knowing  it,  he  com- 
mends the  man ;  saying  some  things  in  confirmation  of  the  truth 
when  he  could  not  do  otherwise,  and  in  other  matters  uttering 
falsehoods  where  he  thought  he  would  not  be  detected.  Some- 
times he  accuses  him  as  a  Christian,  and  sometimes  he  admires 
and  describes  his  proficiency  in  the  branches  of  philosophy. 
Hear  his  own  words:  "  But  some,"  says  he,  "  ambitious  rather 
to  find  some  solution  to  the  absurdities  of  the  .Tewish  writings, 
instead  of  abandoning  them,  have  turned  their  minds  to  exposi- 
tions, inconsistent  with  themselves, and  inapplicable  to  the  writings; 
and  which,  instead  of  furnishing  a  defence  of  these  foreigners, 
only  give  us  encomiums  and  remarks  in  their  praise.  For  boasting 
of  what  Moses  says  plainly  in  his  writings,  as  if  they  were  dark 
and  intricate  propositions,  and  attaching  to  them  divine  influence, 
as  if  they  were  oracles  replete  with  hidden  mysteries ;  and  in 
their  vanity  pretending  to  great  discrimination  of  mind,  they  thus 
produce  their  expositions." 

Then,  again,  he  says :  "  But  let  us  take  an  examp'.e  of  this  ab- 
surdity, from  the  very  man  whom  I  happened  to  meet  when  ]  was 
very  young,  and  who  was  very  celebrated,  and  is  still  celebrated 
by  the  writings  that  he  has  left ;  I  n  lean  Origen,  whose  glory  is 
very  great  with  the  teachers  of  *hege  doctrines.  For  this  man 
having  been  a  hearer  of  Ammon^us,  who  had  made  the  greatest 
proficiency  in  philosophy  among  those  of  our  day,  as  to  know- 
ledge, derived  great  benefit  from  his  master,  but  with  regard  to 
a  correct  purpose  of  life,  he  pursued  a  course  directly  opposite. 
For  Ammonius,  being  a  Christian,  had  been  educated  among 
Christians  by  his  parents,  and  when  he  began  to  exercise  his  own 
understanding,  and  apply  himself  to  philosophy,  he  immediately 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  239 

changed  his  views,  and  Hved  according  to  the  laws.  But  Origen, 
as  a  Greek,  being  educated  in  Greek  Uterature,  declined  to  this 
barbarian  impudence.  To  which,  also,  betaking  himself,  he  both 
consigned  himself  and  his  attainments  in  learning,  living  like  a 
Christian,  and  swerving  from  the  laws;  but  in  regard  to  his 
opinions,  both  of  things  and  the  Deity,  acting  the  Greek,  and  in- 
termingling Greek  literature  with  these  foreign  fictions.  For  he 
was  always  in  company  with  Plato,  and  had  the  works  also  of 
Numenius  and  Cranius,  of  Apollophanes  and  Longinus,  of  Mode- 
ratus  and  Nicomachus,  and  others  whose  writings  are  valued,  in 
his  hands.  He  also  read  the  works  of  Chasremon,  the  stoic,  and 
those  of  Cornutus.  From  these  he  derived  the  allegorical  mode 
of  interpretation  usual  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Greeks,  and  ap- 
plied it  to  the  Jewish  Scriptures." 

Such  are  the  assertions  made  by  Porphyry,  in  the  third  book 
of  his  works,  against  the  Christians,  in  which  he  asserts  the  truth 
respecting  the  study  and  great  learning  of  the  man,  but  also 
plainly  asserts  a  falsehood  (for  what  would  not  a  man  do  writing 
against  Christians  1)  when  he  says  that  he  went  over  from  the 
Greeks  to  the  Christians,  and  that  Ammonius  apostatised  from  a 
life  of  piety  to  live  like  the  heathen.  For  the  doctrine  of  Origen, 
and  his  Christian  instruction,  he  derived  from  his  ancestors,  as  our 
history  has  already  shown ;  and  Ammonius  continued  to  adhere 
unshaken,  to  the  end  of  his  days,  to  the  unadulterated  principles 
of  the  inspired  philosophy.  This  is  evident,  from  the  labours  of 
the  man  that  are  extant,  in  his  written  works,  and  that  establishes 
his  reputation  with  most  men,  even  at  the  present  day.  As,  for 
instance,  that  work  with  the  title,  "  The  Harmony  of  Moses  and 
Jesus,"  and  whatsoever  others  are  found  among  the  learntjd. 
Let  these,  therefore,  suffice  to  evince  botii  the  calumnies  of  the 
false  accuser,  and  also  the  great  proficiency  of  Origen  in  the 
branches  of  Grecian  hterature.  Respecting  this,  he  defends  him- 
self, in  an  epistle,  against  the  allegations  of  some  who  censured 
him  for  devoting  so  much  study  to  these,  writing,  as  follows: 
"  But,"  says  he,  "  when  I  had  devoted  myself  wholly  to  the  word, 
and  my  fame  went  abroad  concerning  my  proficiency,  as  I  was 
sometimes  visited  by  hei-etics,  sometimes  by  those  who  were  con- 
23 


240  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

versant  with  the  studies  of  the  Greeks,  especially  those  that 
were  pursuing  philosophy,  I  was  resolved  to  examine  both  the 
opinions  of  the  heretics,  and  those  works  of  the  philosophers 
which  pretend  to  speak  of  truth.  This  we  have  also  done,  in 
imitation  of  Pantasnus,  by  whom  so  many  have  been  benefited 
before  us,  and  who  was  not  meanly  furnished  with  erudition  hke 
this.  In  this  I  have  also  followed  the  example  of  Heraclas,  who 
has  now  a  seat  in  the  presbytery  of  Alexandria,  who  I  have 
found  persevered  five  years  with  a  teacher  of  philosophy  before 
I  began  to  attend  to  these  studies.  Wherefore,  also,  as  he  had 
before  used  a  common  dress,  he  threw  it  aside,  and  assuming  the 
habit  of  philosophers,  he  retains  it  even  until  now.  He  also  still 
continues  to  criticise  the  works  of  the  Greeks  with  great  dili- 
gence." These  remarks  were  made  by  Origen,  when  he  defended 
himself  for  his  application  to  the  study  of  the  Greeks. 

About  the  same  time,  also,  whilst  he  was  staying  at  Alexan- 
dria, a  soldier  arriving,  handed  a  letter  both  to  Demetrius,  the 
bishop  of  the  place,  and  to  the  prefect  of  Egypt,  from  the  governor 
of  Arabia ;  the  purport  of  which  was  that  he  should  send  Origen 
to  him,  in  all  haste,  in  order  to  communicate  to  him  his  doctrine. 
Wherefore  he  was  sent  by  them.  But,  ere  long,  having  finished 
the  objects  of  his  visit,  he  again  returned  to  Alexandria.  Some 
time  after,  however,  when  a  considerable  war  broke  out  in  the 
city,  he  made  his  escape  out  of  the  city ;  and  not  thinking  it  would 
be  safe  to  stay  in  Egypt,  came  to  Palestine,  and  took  up  his 
abode  in  Cesarea.  There  he  was  also  requested  by  the  bishops 
to  expound  the  sacred  Scriptures  publicly  in  the  church,  although 
he  had  not  yet  obtained  the  priesthood  by  the  imposition  of  hands. 
This  might  also  be  shown,  from  w^hat  was  written  to  Demetrius 
respecting  him,  by  Alexander  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  Theoctis- 
tus  bishop  of  Cesarea,  who  defended  him  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  * — "  He  has  added  (..  e.  Demetrius)  to  his  letter,  that  this 
was  never  before  either  heard  or  done,  that  laymen  should  deli- 
ver discourses  in  the  presence  of  the  bishops.  I  know  not  how 
it  happens  that  he  is  here  evidently  so  far  from  the  truth.     For, 

*  Demetrius  is  here  addressed,  by  way  of  respect,  in  the  third  person. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  241 

indeed,  wheresoever  there  arc  found  those  quahfied  to  benefit  the 
brethren,  these  are  exhorted  by  the  holy  bishops  to  address  the 
people.  Thus  at  Laranda,  Euelpis  was  exhorted  by  Neon,  and 
at  Iconium,  Paulinus  by  Celsus,  and  at  Synada,  Theodore  by 
Atticus,  our  blessed  brethren.  It  is  also  probable,  that  this  has 
happened  in  other  places,  but  we  know  not  that  it  has."  In  this 
way  the  selfsame  Origen  was  honoured,  when  yet  a  young  man, 
not  only  by  his  own  familiar  friends,  but  also  by  bishops  abroad. 
But  Demetrius,  recalling  him  by  letter,  and  urging  his  return  to 
Alexandria,  by  sending  members  and  deacons  of  the  church,  he 
returned  and  pursued  the  accustomed  duties  of  his  occupation. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

The  loorks  of  the  writers  of  the  day  still  extant. 

Many  learned  men  of  the  church  also  flourished  in  these 
times,  of  whom  we  may  easily  find  epistles,  which  they  wrote  to 
one  another,  still  extant.  These  have  been  also  preserved  for  us 
in  the  library  of  iElia,  which  was  built  by  Alexander,  who  was 
bishop  there.  From  this  we  have  also  been  able  to  collect  ma- 
terials for  our  present  work.  Of  these  Beryllus  has  left  us,  to- 
gether with  epistles  and  treatises,  also  different  kinds  of  works 
written  with  elegance  and  taste.  But  he  M^as  bishop  of  Bostra, 
in  Arabia.  Hippolytus,  also,  who  was  bishop  of  another  church, 
has  left  us  some  works.  There  is  beside,  a  discussion  that  has 
come  down  to  us,  of  Caius,  a  most  learned  man,  held  at  Rome  in 
the  times  of  Zephyrinus,  against  Proclus,  who  contended  for  the 
Phrygian  heresy.  In  which,  whilst  he  silences  the  rashness 
and  daring  of  his  opponents  in  composing  new  books,  (i.  e.  of 
Scripture,)  he  makes  mention  of  only  thirteen  epistles,  not  reck- 
oning that  to  the  Hebrews  with  the  rest ;  as  there  are,  even  to 
this  day,  some  of  the  Romans  who  do  not  consider  it  to  be  the 
work  of  the  apostles. 

2H 


242  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXL 

The  bishops  that  were  noted  at  this  time. 

Antonine  reigned  seven  years  and  six  months,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Macrinus ;  and  he,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  another  Antonine,  in  the  sovereignty  of  Rome.  In  the 
first  year  of  the  latter,  Zephyrinus  the  bishop  of  Rome,  depart- 
ed this  life,  after  having  charge  of  the  church  eighteen  years. 
He  was  succeeded  in  the  episcopate  by  Callisthus,  who  survived 
him  five  years,  and  left  the  church  to  Urbanus.  After  these  the 
government  of  Rome  was  held  by  the  emperor  Alexander,  Anto- 
nine having  lived  only  four  years  from  the  commencement  of 
his  reign.  At  this  time  also,  Philetas  succeeds  Asclepiades  in 
the  church  of  Antioch.  But  Mamasa,  the  emperor's  mother,  a 
woman  distinguished  for  her  piety  and  religion,  when  the  fame 
of  Origen  had  now  been  every  where  spread  abroad,  so  that  it 
also  reached  her  ears,  was  very  eager  both  to  be  honoured  with 
a  sight  of  the  man,  and  to  make  trial  of  his  skill  in  divine  things 
so  greatly  extolled.  Therefore,  whilst  staying  at  Alexandria,  she 
sent  for  him  by  a  military  escort.  With  her  he  staid  some  time, 
exhibiting  innumerable  matters  calculated  to  promote  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  and  to  evince  the  excellence  of  divine  instruction, 
after  which  he  hastened  back  again  to  his  accustomed  engage- 
ments. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  icorks  of  Hippolytus,  that  have  reached  us. 

At  the  same  time,  Hippolytus,  who  composed  many  other 
treatises,  also  wrote  a  work  on  the  passover.  In  this  he  traces 
back  the  series  of  times,  and  presents  a  certain  canon  comprising 
a  period  of  sixteen  years,  on  the  Passover,  limiting  his  computa- 
tion of  the  times  to  the  first  year  of  the  emperor  Alexander. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  fflSTORY.  243 

But  the  remaining  works  written  by  him,  that  have  come  down 
to  us,  are  the  following :  On  the  Hexaemeron,  On  the  Works  after 
the  Hexaemeron,  To  Marcion,  On  the  Canticles,  On  parts  of  Eze- 
kiel,  On  the  Passover,  Against  all  the  Heresies.  You  will  also 
find  many  others  still  preserved  by  many. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Ongen's  zeal,  and  his  elevation  to  the  priesthood. 

From  this  time,  however,  Origen  began  his  Commentaries  on 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  to  which  he  was  particularly  urged  by 
Ambrose,  who  presented  innumerable  incentives,  not  only  by 
verbal  exhortation,  but  by  furnishing  the  most  ample  supplies  of 
all  necessary  means ;  for  he  had  more  than  seven  amanuenses, 
when  he  dictated,  who  relieved  each  other  at  appointed  times. 
He  had  not  fewer  copyists,  as  also  girls,  who  were  well  exercised 
in  more  elegant  writing.  For  all  which,  xlmbrose  furnished  an 
abundant  supply  of  all  the  necessary  expense.  And,  indeed  he, 
for  his  own  part,  evinced  an  inexpressible  zeal  in  the  study  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  by  which  also  he  particularly  stimulated 
Origen  to  write  his  Commentaries.  Whilst  this  was  the  state  of 
things.  Urban,  who  had  been  bishop  of  Rome  eight  years,  was 
succeeded  by  Pontianus.  At  Antioch,  Philetus  was  succeeded  by 
Zebinus.  At  this  time  Origen,  being  compelled  by  some  necessary 
affairs  of  the  church,  went  to  Greece  by  way  of  Palestine,  where 
he  received  the  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  at  Cesarea,  from  the 
bishops  of  that  country.  The  matters  that  were  agitated  upon 
this  in  reference  to  him,  and  the  decisions  of  the  bishops  of  the 
churches,  in  consequence  of  these  movements,  and  whatsoever 
other  works  he  wrote  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  to  advance  the 
divine  word,  as  it  demands  a  separate  treatise,  we  have  suf- 
ciently  stated  in  the  second  book  of  the  work  we  have  written 
in  his  defence. 

23=* 


244  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  expositions  he  gave  at  Alexandria. 

To  these  it  might  be  necessary,  perhaps,  to  add,  that  in  the 
sixth  book  of  his  exegetical  works  on  the  gospel  of  John,  he 
shows  that  the  first  five  were  composed  by  him  whilst  yet  at 
Alexandria.  But  of  the  whole  work  on  this  gospel,  only  twenty- 
two  books  have  come  down  to  us.  But  in  the  ninth  book  on  Ge- 
nesis, for  there  are  twelve  in  all,  he  not  only  shows  that  the  eight 
preceding  ones  were  written  at  Alexandria,  but  also,  his  com- 
mentaries on  the  first  five  and  twenty  Psalms.  Moreover,  those 
on  Lamentations,  of  which  five  books  have  reached  us,  in  which 
he  also  makes  mention  of  his  books  on  the  resurrection.  But 
these  are  two  in  number.  Likewise,  the  works  on  the  Principles 
were  written  before  his  removal  from  Alexandria,  and  also  those 
entitled  Stromata,  in  number  ten,  he  composed  in  the  same  city 
during  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Alexander,  as  is  shown  by  his 
own  notes,  fully  written  out  before  the  books. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

His  review  of  the  collective  Scriptures. 

In  his  exposition  of  the  first  Psalm,  he  has  given  a  catalogue 
of  the  books  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
follows :  "  But  it  should  be  observed  that  the  collective  books,  as 
handed  down  by  the  Hebrews,  are  twenty-two,  according  to  the 
number  of  letters  in  their  alphabet."  After- some  further  re- 
marks, he  subjoins :  "  These  twenty-two  books,  according  to  the 
Hebrews,  are  as  follows,  '  That  which  is  called  Genesis,  but  by 
the  Hebrews,  from  the  beginning  of  the  book,  Bresith,  which 
means,  in  the  beginning.     Exodus,  Walesmoth,*  which  means, 

*  We  have  here  given  the  Hebrew  pronunciation  according  to  Origen's  Greek, 
which  differs  sometimes  from  the  common  pronunciation;  allowance  must  also  be 
made  for  the  pronunciation  of  the  Greek  itself. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  245 

these  are  the  names.  Leviticus,  Waikra,  and  he  called.  Num- 
bers, Anmesphekodlim.  Deuteronomy,  Elle  haddabarim,  that  is, 
these  are  the  words.  Jesus  the  son  of  Nave,  in  Hebrew,  Joshue 
ben  Nun.  Judges  and  Ruth,  in  one  book,  with  the  Hebrews, 
which  they  call  Sophetim.  Of  Kings,  the  first  and  second,  one 
book,  with  them  called  Samuel,  the  called  of  God.  The  third 
and  fourth  of  Kings,  also  in  one  book  with  them,  and  called, 
Wahammelech  Dabid,*  which  means,  and  king  David.  The 
first  and  second  book  of  the  Paralipomena,  contained  in  one 
volume  with  them,  and  called  Dibre  Hamaim,  which  means  the 
words,  i.  e.  the  records  of  days.  The  first  and  second  of  Esdras, 
in  one,  called  Ezra,  i.  e.  an  assistant.  The  book  of  Psalms,  sepher 
Thehillim.  The  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  Misloth.  Ecclesiastes, 
Coheleth.  The  Song  of  Songs,  Sir  Hasirim.  Isaiah,  lesaia. 
Jeremiah,  with  the  Lamentations,  and  his  Epistle,  in  one,  Je- 
remiah. Daniel,  Daniel.  Ezekiel.  Jeezkel.  Job,  Job.  Esther, 
also  with  the  Hebrews,  Esther.  Besides  these,  there  are,  also, 
the  Maccabees,  which  are  inscribed  Sarbeth  sarbane  el.' " 

These,  then,  are  the  books  that  he  mentions  in  the  book  men- 
tioned above.  But  in  the  first  book  of  his  Commentaries  on  the 
gospel  of  Matthew,  following  the  Ecclesiastical  Canon,  he  attests 
that  he  knows  of  only  four  gospels,  as  follows :  "  As  I  have  un- 
derstood from  tradition,  respecting  the  four  gospels,  which  are 
tlie  only  undisputed  ones  in  the  whole  church  of  God  throughout 
the  world.  The  first  is  written  according  to  Matthew,  the  same 
that  was  once  a  publican,  but  aftei'wards  an  apostle  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  having  published  it  for  the  Jewish  converts,  wrote  it 
in  the  Hebrew.  The  second  is  according  to  Mark,  who  com- 
posed it,  as  Peter  explained  to  him,  whom  he  also  acknowledges 
as  his  son  in  his  general  Epistle,  saying,  '  The  elect  church  in 
Babylon,  salutes  you,  as  also  Mark  my  son.'  And  the  third, 
according  to  Luke,  the  gospel  commended  by  Paul,  which  was 

*  David  is  here  written  with  a  /3,  and  we  have  given  it  according  to  our  usual 
Greek  pronunciation.  But  Origen  appears  to  have  pronounced  the  beta  as  tj;  as 
also  the  Septuagint,  who,  in  several  instances  give  the  name  A:/.l.t,  from  the  He- 
brew, ^vhere  it  would  be  impossible  to  suppose  they  had  the  sound  of  b.  Some  of 
the  older  grammarians,  as  Clenardus,  follow  the  same  pronunciation. 


246  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

written  for  the  converts  from  the  Gentiles,  and  last  of  all  the 
gospel  according  to  John.  -  And  in  the  fifth  book  of  his  Com- 
mentaries on  John,  the  same  author  writes  as  follows  :  "  But  he 
being  well  fitted  to  be  a  m.inister  of  the  New  Testament,  Paul,  1 
mean  a  minister  not  of  the  letter  but  of  the  spirit ;  who,  after 
spreading  the  gospel  from  Jerusalem  and  the  country  around  as 
far  as  Illyricum,  did  not  even  write  to  all  the  churches  to  which 
he  preached,  but  even  to  those  to  whom  he  wrote  he  only  sent  a 
few  lines.  But  Peter,  upon  whom  the  church  of  Christ  is  built, 
against  which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail,  has  left  one 
epistle  undisputed.  Suppose,  also,  the  second  was  left  by  him, 
for  on  this  there  is  some  doubt.  What  shall  we  say  of  him  who 
reclined  upon  the  breast  of  Jesus,  I  mean  John  1  who  has  left 
one  gospel,  in  which  he  confesses  that  he  could  write  so  many 
that  the  whole  world  could  not  contain  them.  He  also  wrote  the 
Apocalypse,  commanded  as  he  was,  to  conceal,  and  not  to  write 
the  voices  of  the  seven  thunders.  He  has  also  left  an  epistle 
consisting  of  very  few  lines;  suppose,  also,  that  a  second  and  third 
is  from  him,  for  not  all  agree  that  they  are  genuine,  but  both  to- 
gether do  not  contain  a  hundred  hues."  To  these  remarks  he 
also  adds  the  following  observation  on  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, in  his  homilies  on  the  same :  "  The  style  of  the  Epistle 
with  the  title,  '  To  the  Hebrews,'  has  not  that  vulgarity  of  dic- 
tion which  belongs  to  the  apostle,  who  confesses  that  he  is  but 
common  in  speech,  that  is  in  his  phraseology.  But  that  this 
epistle  is  more  pure  Greek  in  the  composition  of  its  phrases, 
every  one  will  confess  who  is  able  to  discern  the  difference  of 
style.  Again,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  ideas  of  the  epistle  are 
admirable,  and  not  inferior  to  any  of  the  books  acknowledged  to 
be  apostolic.  Every  one  will  confess  the  truth  of  this,  who  atten- 
tively reads  the  apostle's  writings."  To  these  he  afterwards 
again  adds:  "But  I  would  say,  that  the  thoughts  are  the  apos- 
tle's, but  the  diction  and  phraseology  belong  to  some  one  who  has 
recorded  what  the  apostle  said,  and  as  one  who  noted  down  at  his 
leisure  what  his  master  dictated.  If  then,  any  church  considers 
this  epistle  as  coming  from  Paul,  let  it  be  commended  for  this, 
for  neither    did  those  ancient  men  deliver  it  as  such  without 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  247 

cause.  But  who  it  was  that  really  wrote  the  epistle,  God  only 
knows.  The  account,  however,  that  has  been  current  before  us 
is,  according  to  some,  that  Clement  who  was  bishop  of  Rome 
wrote  the  epistle :  according  to  others,  that  it  was  written  by 
Luke,  who  wrote  the  gospel  and  the  Acts.  But  let  this  suihce 
on  these  subjects. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Heraclas  succeeds  to  the  episcopate  of  Alexandria. 

But  this  was  the  tenth  year  of  the  abovementioned  reign  (of 
Alexander,)  in  which  Origen,  after  I'emoving  from  Alexandria  to 
Cesarea,  left  his  school  for  catechetical  instruction  there  in  the 
charge  of  Heraclas.  But  ere  long  Demetrius,  the  bishop  of  the 
church  of  Alexandria,  died,  having  performed  the  duties  of  the 
office,  upon  the  whole,  forty-three  years.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Heraclas.  About  this  time  also  iiourished  Firmilianus  bishop  of 
Cesarea  in  Cappadocia. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Hoiu  the  bishops  regarded  him. 


This  bishop  was  so  favourably  disposed  towards  Origen,  that 
he  then  called  him  to  the  regions  in  which  he  dwelt,  to  benefit 
the  churches ;  at  another  time,  he  went  to  visit  him  in  Judea,  and 
passed  some  time  with  him  there,  for  the  sake  of  improvement 
in  things  divine.  Moreover  Alexander,  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
and  Theoctistus,  bishop  of  Cesarea,  attending  him  the  whole 
time  nearly  like  pupils  their  master,  allowed  him  alone  to  per- 
form the  duties  of  expounding  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and-  other 
matters  that  pertain  to  the  doctrines  of  the  church. 


248  E(XLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

The  fersecuhon  under  Maxhninus. 

But  the  emperor  Alexander  being  carried  off  after  a  reign  of 
thirteen  years,  was  succeeded  by  Maximinus,  who,  inflamed  with 
hatred  against  the  house  of  Alexander,  consisting  of  many  be- 
lievers, raised  a  persecution,  and  commanded  at  first  only  the 
heads  of  the  churches  to  be  slain,  as  the  abettors  and  agents  of 
evangelical  truth.  It  was  then  that  Origen  wrote  his  book  on 
Martyrdom,  which  he  dedicated  to  Ambrose  and  Protoctetus 
a  presbyter  of  the  church  at  Cesarea,  because  both  of  these  en- 
countered no  common  danger  in  the  persecution.  In  which  also 
it  is  said  that  these  men  were  pre-eminent  for  (persevering  in) 
their  confession,  as  Maximinus  did  not  reign  longer  than  three 
years.  Origen  has  assigned  the  time  of  this  persecution,  both  in 
the  twenty-second  book  of  his  Commentaries  on  John,  and  in  dif- 
ferent epistles. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


Of  Fabianus,  icho  ivas  remarkably  appointed  bishop  of  Rome  by  a 
divine  communication. 

GoRDiAN  succeeded  Maximinus  in  the  'sovereignty  of  Rome, 
when  Pontianus  who  had  held  the  episcopate  six  years,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Anteros  in  the  church  of  Rome ;  he  also  is  succeeded 
by  Fabianus,  after  having  been  engaged  in  the  service  about  a 
month.  It  is  said  that  Fabianus  had  come  to  Rome  with  some 
others  from  the  country,  and  staying  there  in  the  most  remarkable 
manner,  by  divine  and  celestial  grace,  was  advanced  to  be  one  of 
the  candidates  for  the  office.  When  all  the  brethren  had  assem- 
bled in  the  church,  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining  him  tiiat  should 
succeed  in  the  episcopate,  though  there  were  very  many  eminent 
and  illustrious  men  in  the  expectation  of  many,  Fabianus  being 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  249 

present,  no  one  thought  of  any  other  man.  They  relate,  further, 
that  a  dove  suddenly  flying  down  from  on  high,  sat  upon  his 
head,  exhibiting  a  scene  like  that  of  the  holy  Spirit  once  de- 
scending upon  our  Saviour  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  Upon  this  the 
whole  body  exclaimed,  with  all  eagerness  and  with  one  voice,  as 
if  moved  by  the  one  spirit  of  God,  that  he  was  worthy;  and 
without  delay  they  took  and  placed  him  upon  the  episcopal  throne. ' 
At  the  same  time  Zebinus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  dying,  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  government  (of  the  church,)  by  Babylas,  and  at 
Alexandria,  Demetrius  held  the  episcopate  forty-three  years,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  office  by  Heraclas.  But  in  the  catechetical 
school  there,  he  was  succeeded  by  Dionysius,  who  was  also  one 
of  Origen's  pupils. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  pupils  of  Origen. 


Whilst  Origen  was  attending  to  his  accustomed  duties  at  Ce- 
sarea,  many  frequented  his  school,  not  only  of  the  residents  of 
the  place,  but  also  innumerable  others  from  abroad,  who  left 
their  country  in  order  to  attend  his  lectures.  Of  these  the  most 
noted  whom  we  know  is  Thedorus,  known  also  by  the  name  of 
Gregory,  and  so  celebrated  among  the  bishops  of  our  day ;  also 
his  brother  Athenodorus.  Origen,  seeing  them  excessively  wrapt 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  studies  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  in- 
fused into  them  the  love  of  philosophy,  and  induced  them  to  ex- 
change their  former  zeal  for  the  study  of  divine  things.  But 
after  being  with  him  five  years,  they  made  such  improvement  in 
the  divine  oracles,  that  both,  though  very  young,  were  honoured 
with  the  episcopate  in  the  churches  of  Pontus. 


21 


250  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXXL 

Of  Africanus. 

At  this  time,  also,  flourished  Africanus,  who  wrote  the  books 
with  the  title  Cesti.  There  is  an  epistle  of  his  extant,  addressed 
to  Origen,  in  which  he  intimates  his  doubts  on  the  history  of  Su- 
sannah, in  Daniel,  as  if  it  were  a  spurious  and  fictitious  compo- 
sition. To  which  Origen  wrote  a  very  full  answer.  Other  works 
of  the  same  Africanus  that  have  reached  us,  are  his  five  books 
of  Chronography,  a  most  accurate  and  laboured  performance. 
In  these,  he  says  that  he'  had  gone  to  Alexandria,  on  account  of 
the  great  celebrity  of  Heraclas,  the  same  that  we  have  already 
shown  was  advanced  to  the  episcopate  there,  and  who  was,  also, 
very  eminent  for  his  sldll  in  philosophical  studies,  and  the  other 
sciences  of  the  Greeks.  Another  epistle  of  the  same  Africanus 
IS  also  extant,  addressed  to  Aristides,  on  the  supposed  discrepancy 
between  Matthew  and  Luke  in  the  genealogy  of  Christ.  In  this 
he  most  clearly  establishes  the  consistency  of  the  two  evangelists, 
from  an  account  which  had  been  handed  down  from  his  ances- 
tors, which,  in  its  proper  place,  we  have  already  anticipated  in 
the  first  book  of  the  work  we  have  in  hand. 


CHAPTER.  XXXII. 

The  Commentaries  that  Origen  wrote  in  Palestine 

About  this  time,  also,  Origen  composed  his  Commentary  on 
Isaiah,  as  also  on  Ezekiel.  Of  the  former,  thirty  books*  have 
comedown  to  us  as  far  as  the  third  part  of  Isaiah,  until  (the 
chapter  beginning)  the  vision  of  the  beast  in  the  desert.     On 


•  The  word  ro^to?,  from  which  we  get  tome,  properly  signifies  a  section ;  and  as 
the  sections  of  a  work  were  sometimes  on  diflercnt  scrolls,  hence  they  were  called 
books,  volumes,  and  ro/.oi. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  fflSTORY.  251 


Ezekiel  there  are  twenty-five  books,  which  are  all  that  he  wrote 
upon  this  prophet.  But  when  he  came  to  Athens,  he,  indeed, 
finished  his  Commentaries  on  Ezekiel,  but  also  commenced  his 
Notes  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  advanced  there  as  far  as  the 
fifth  book.  But  on  his  return  to  Cesarea,  he  also  brought  these 
to  a  close,  in  number  ten.  Why  should  we,  however,  give  a 
minute  statement  of  the  man's  labours,  a  performance,  in  itself, 
that  would  require  a  separate  and  distinct  work  ?  And,  indeed, 
this  has  already  been  done  by  us  in  our  life  of  Pamphilusj  that 
holy  martyr  of  our  day,  in  which,  after  exhibiting  the  great 
zeal  of  Pamphilus,  we  also  subjoin  the  catalogues  of  the  library 
collected  by  him,  of  the  works  written  by  Origen  and  other  ec- 
clesiastical writers.  By  which  any  one  that  wishes  may  most 
satisfactorily  learn  what  works  of  Origen  have  come  down  to 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  errw  of  Beryllus. 


Beryllus,  who  was  mentioned  a  little  before,  as  bishop  of  Bostra 
in  Arabia,  perverting  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  attempted  to  in 
troduce  certain  opinions  that  are  foreign  to  Christian  faith,  daring 
to  assert  that  our  Lord  and  Saviour  did  not  exist  in  the  proper 
sense  of  existence,  before  his  dweUing  among  men  ;  neither  had 
he  a  proper  divinity,  but  only  that  divinity  which  dwelt  in  him 
from  the  Father.  As  the  bishops  had  many  examinations  and 
discussions  on  this  point  with  the  man,  Origen,  who  was  also  in- 
vited together  with  the  rest,  at  first  entered  into  conversation 
with  him,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  opinion  the  man  held. 
But  when  he  understood  what  he  advanced,  after  correcting  his 
error,  by  .reasoning  and  demonstration,  he  convinced  him,  and 
thus  recovered  him  to  the  truth  in  doctrine,  and  brought  him 
Ijack  again  to  the  former  sound  opinion.  There  are  also  works 
still  extant,  both  of  Beryllus  and  the  synod  that  was  held  on  his 
24 


MtiLit 


w 


252  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

account,  containing  the  questions  put  to  him  by  Origen,  and  the 
discussions  held  in  his  church,  together  with  all  that  was  don(3 
there.  Innumerable  other  facts  are  reported  by  our  elder 
brethren,  which  I  have  thought  proper  to  pass  by,  as  having  no 
reference  to  the  objects  of  the  present  work ;  but  whatsoever  it 
was  necessary  to  select  of  matters  concerning  him,  these  may  be 
collected  from  that  defence  of  him  which  we  and  Pamphilus, 
that  holy  martyr  of  our  times,  have  written,  which  work  we  per- 
formed jointly,  in  order  to  obviate  the  malevolence  of  some. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Of  Philip  Cesar. 


GoRDiANus  had  held  the  government  of  Rome  six  years,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Philip,  together  with  his  son  Philip.  It  is 
said  that,  as  a  Christian,  on  the  day  of  the  last  vigil  of  the  pass- 
over,  he  wished  to  share  with  the  multitude  in  the  prayers  of  the 
church,  but  was  not  permitted  by  the  existing  bishop  to  enter 
before  he  had  confessed  his  sins,  and  numbered  himself  with  those 
who  were  referred  to  transgressors,  and  had  space  for  repent- 
ance. For  otherwise  he  would  never  be  received  by  him,  unless 
he  first  did  this,  on  account  of  the  many  crimes  which  he  had 
committed.  The  emperor  is  said  to  have  obeyed  cheerfully,  and 
exhibited  a  genuine  and  religious  disposition  in  regard  to  his  fear 
of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Dionysius  succeeds  Heraclas  in  the  episcopate. 

In  the  third  year  of  this  reign  also,  Heraclas  dying,  after  an 
episcopate  of  sixteen  years,  was  succeeded  by  Dionysius  in  the 
supervision  of  the  church  of  Alexandria. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  253 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Other  works  uoritten  hy  Origen. 

Then  also,  as  was  to  be  expected,  our  religion  spreading  more 
and  more,  and  our  brethren  beginning  to  converse  more  freely 
with  all,  Origen,  who  they  say  was  now  more  than  sixty  years 
of  age,  and  who  from  long  practice  had  acquired  the  greatest 
facility  in  discoursing,  permitted  his  discourses  to  be  taken  down 
by  ready  writers,  a  thing  which  he  had  never  allowed  before. 
At  this  time,  also,  he  composed  in  eight  books  a  reply  to  that 
work  written  against  us  by  Celsus  the  Epicurean,  bearing  the 
title,  "  The  True  Doctrine,"  and  the  twenty-five  books  on  Mat- 
thew's gospel,  those  also  on  the  twelve  apostles,  of  which  we  have 
found  only  twenty-five.  There  is  also  an  epistle  of  his  extant, 
addressed  to  the  emperor  Philip,  and  another  to  his  wife  Severa ; 
several  others  also  to  different  persons.  Of  these  as  many  as 
we  have  been  able  to  collect,  scattered  in  the  hands  of  different 
individuals,  we  have  reduced  lo  certain  distinct  books,  in  number 
exceeding  one  hundred.  But  he  also  wrote  to  Fabianus  bishop 
of  Rome,  and  to  many  others  of  the  bishops  of  churches  respect- 
ing his  orthodoxy  ;  and  of  these  you  have  the  proofs  in  the  sixth 
book  of  our  Apology  for  the  man. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Tlie  dissension  of  the  Arabians. 


But  about  this  time,  also,  other  men  sprung  up  in  Arabia  as 
the  propagators  of  false  opinions.  These  asserted,  that  the  hu- 
man soul,  as  long  as  the  present  state  of  the  world  existed,  pe- 
rished at  death  and  died  with  the  body,  but  that  it  would  be 
raised  again  with  the  body  at  the  time  of  the  resurrection.  And 
as  a  considerable  council  was  held  on  account  of  this,  Origen 
being  again  requested,  likewise  here  discussed  the  point  in  ques- 


254  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

tion  with  so  much  force,  tliat   those  who  had  been  before  led 
astray,  completely  changed  their  opinions. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  heresy  of  the  Helcesaites. 


Another  error  also  sprung  up  about  this  time,  called  the  he- 
resy of  the  Helcesaites,  which,  however,  was  almost  stifled  in 
its  birth.  But  it  is  mentioned  by  Origen,  in  his  public  lecture 
on  the  eighty-second  Psalm  :  *'  A  certain  one,  says  he,  came  re- 
cently with  a  great  opinion  of  his  abilities,  to  maintain  that  un- 
godly and  wicked  error  of  the  Helcesaites,  which  has  but  lately 
appeared  in  the  churches.  The  mischievous  assertions  of  this 
heresy,  I  will  give  you,  that  you  may  not  be  carried  away  with 
it.  It  sets  aside  certain  parts  of  the  collective  Scriptures,  and  it 
makes  use  of  passages  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  from  the 
gospels.  It  rejects  the  apostle  altogether.  It  asserts,  also,  to 
deny  (Christ)  is  indifferent,  and  that  one  who  has  made  up  his 
mind,  in  case  of  necessity  will  deny  with  his  mouth,  but  not  in  his 
heart.  They  also  produce  a  certain  book,  which  they  say  fell 
from  heaven  :  and  that  whoever  has  heard  and  believed  this, 
will  receive  remission  of  sins ;  a  remission  different  from  that 
given  by  Christ."     And  such  is  the  account  respecting  these. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

The  persecution  of  Decius. 


Philip,  after  a  reign  of  seven  years,  was  succeeded  by 
Decius,  who,  in  consequence  of  his  hatred  to  Phihp,  raised  a 
persecution  against  the  church,  in  which  Fabianus  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom, and  was  succeeded  as  bishop  of  Rome  by  Cornelius. 
— In  Palestine,  however,  Alexander,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was 
again  brought  before  the  tribunal  of  the  governor,  at  Cesarea, 
and  after   an  eminent  perseverance    in  his   profession,  though 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  25o 

crowned  with  the  hoary  locks  of  venerable  age,  he  was  cast 
into  prison.  After  giving  a  splendid  and  illustrious  testimony  at 
the  governor's  tribunal,  and  expiring  in  prison,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mazabanes  as  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  But  Babylas,  like 
Alexander,  dying  in  prison  at  Antioch,  after  his  confession,  the 
church  there  was  governed  by  Fabius.  But  the  number  and 
greatness  of  Origen's  sufferings  there  during  the  persecution,  and 
the  nature  of  his  death,  when  the  spirit  of  darkness  drew  up  his 
forces,  and  waged  a  war  with  all  his  arts  and  power  against  the 
man,  and  assailed  him  particularly  beyond  all  that  were  then  as- 
saulted by  him;  the  nature  and  number  of  bonds  which  the 
man  endured  on  account  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  all  his 
torments  of  body,  the  sufferings  also  which  he  endured  under 
an  iron  collar,  and  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  prison,  when 
for  many  days  he  was  extended  and  stretched  to  the  distance  of 
four  holes  on  the  rack ;  besides  the  threats  of  fire,  and  what- 
soever other  sufTerings  inflicted  by  his  enemies  he  nobly  bore,  and 
finally  the  issue  of  these  sufferings,  when  the  judge  eagerly 
strove  with  all  his  might  to  protract  his  life  (in  order  to  prolong 
his  sufferings,)  and  what  expressions  after  these  he  left  behind, 
replete  with  benefit  to  those  needing  consolation,  all  this  the  many 
epistles  of  the  man  detail  with  no  less  truth  than  accuracy. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

What  happened  to  Dionysius. 


I  SHALL  now  subjoin  the  occurrences  that  befel  Dionysius,  from 
his  epistle  to  Germanus,  where,  speaking  of  himself,  he  gives  the 
following  account :  "  But  I  speak  before  God,  and  he  knows  that 
I  lie  not ;  it  was  never  by  my  own  counsel,  nor  without  divine  in- 
timation, that  I  projected  my  flight.  But  before  the  persecution 
of  Decius,  Sabinus,  at  the  very  hour,  sent  Frumentarius  to  search 
for  rne.  And  I  indeed,  staid  at  home  about  four  days,  expecting 
the  arrival  of  Frumentarius.  But  he  went  about  examining  all 
places,  the  roads,  the  rivers,  the  fields,  where  he  suspected  that 
24^  » 


256  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

I  would  go  or  lie  concealed.  But  he  was  smitten  with  blindness, 
not  being  able  to  find  the  house,  for  he  could  not  believe  that  I 
would  remain  at  home  when  persecuted.  Four  days  had  scarcely 
elapsed  when  God  ordered  me  to  remove,  and  opened  the  way 
for  oie  in  a  most  remarkable  manner.  I  and  my  domestics, 
.and  many  of  my  brethren,  went  forth  together.  And  that  this 
happened  by  the  providence  of  God,  was  shown  by  w4iat  follow- 
ed, and  in  which,  perhaps,  we  were  not  unprofitable  to  some." 
After  this,  he  shows  the  events  that  befel  him  after  his  flight, 
adding  the  following :  "  But  about  sunset,  being  seized,  together 
with  my  company,  by  the  soldiers,  I  was  led  to  Taposiris.  But 
Timothy,  by  the  providence  of  God,  happened  not  to  be  present, 
nor  even  seized.  But  coming  afterwards,  he  found  the  house  de- 
serted, and  servants  guarding  it,  and  us  he  found  reduced  to  sla- 
very." After  other  remarks,  he  observes :  "  And  what  was  the 
manner  of  this  divine  interposition  of  his  ?  For  the  truth  shall 
be  told.  A  certain  man  of  the  country  met  Timothy  flying,  and 
much  disturbed,  and  when  he  was  asked  the  cause  of  his  haste, 
he  declared  the  truth.  When  he  heard  it,  he  went  his  way,  for 
he  was  going  to  a  marriage  festival,  (as  it  is  the  custom  with  them 
on  these  occasions  to  keep  the  whole  night,)  and  when  he  entered 
he  told  it  to  those  that  were  present  at  the  feast.  These,  forth- 
with, with  a  single  impulse,  as  if  by  agreement,  all  arose,  and 
came  as  quick  as  possible  in  a  rush  upon  us,  and  as  they  rushed 
they  raised  a  shout.  The  soldiers  that  guarded  us  immediately 
took  to  flight,  and  they  came  upon  us,  lying  as  we  were  upon  the 
bare  bedsteads.  I  indeed,  as  God  knows,  supposed  them  at  first 
to  be  robbers,  who  had  come  to  plunder  and  pillage.  Remaining, 
therefore,  on  my  bed,  naked  as  I  was,  only  covered  with  a  linen 
garment,  the  rest  of  my  dress  I  offered  them  as  it  lay  beside  me. 
But  they  commanded  me  to  rise  and  to  depart  as  quick  as  possi- 
ble. Then,  understanding  for  what  purpose  they  had  come,  I 
began  to  cry  out,  beseeching  and  praying  them  to  go  away  and 
to  let  us  alone.  But  if  they  wished  to  do  us  any  good,  to  anti- 
cipate those  that  had  led  me  away,  and  to  cut  off"  my  head. 
When  I  thus  cried  out,  as  my  companions  and  partners  in  all  my 
distresses  w^ell  know,  they  attempted  to  raise  me  by  force.    1 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  257 

then  cast  myself  on  my  back  upon  the  ground.  But  they  seized 
me  by  the  hands  and  feet,  and  dragged  me  away,  whilst  those 
who  were  witnesses  of  all  these  things,  Caius,  Faustus,  Peter,  and 
Paul,  followed  on.  These  also,  taking  me  up,  bore  me  away 
from  the  town,  and  carried  me  off  on,  an  unsaddled  ass."  Such 
is  the  account  of  Dionysius  respecting  himself. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

Of  those  icho  suffered  rnartijrdom  at  Alexandria. 

But  the  same  writer  in  the  epistle  which  he  addressed  to  Fa- 
bius  bishop  of  Antioch,  relates  the  conflicts  of  those  who  suffered 
martyrdom  at  Alexandria  in  the  following  manner :  "  The  perse- 
cution with  us  did  not  begin  with  the  imperial  edict,  but  preceded 
it  a  whole  year.  And  a  certain  prophet  and  poet,  inauspicious 
to  the  city,  whoever  he  was,  excited  the  mass  of  the  heathen 
against  us,  stirring  them  up  to  their  native  superstition.  Stimu- 
lated by  him,  and  taking  full  liberty  to  exercise  any  kind  of 
wickedness,  they  considered  this  the  only  piety,  and  the  worship 
of  their  daemons,  viz.,  to  slay  us.  First  then,  seizing  a  certain 
aged  man  named  Metra,  they  called  upon  him  to  utter  impious 
expressions,  and  as  he  did  not  obey,  they  beat  his  body  with 
clubs,  and  pricked  his  face  and  eyes ;  after  which  they  led  him 
away  to  the  suburbs,  where  they  stoned  him.  Next  they  led  a 
woman  called  Quinta,  who  was  a  believer,  to  the  temple  of  an 
idol,  and  attempted  to  force  her  to  worship ;  but  when  she  turned 
away  in  disgust,  they  tied  her  by  the  feet,  and  dragged  her 
through  the  whole  city,  over  the  rough  stones  of  the  paved 
streets,  dashing  her  against  the  millstones,  and  scourging  her  at 
the  same  time,  until  they  brought  her  to  the  same  place,  where 
they  stoned  her.  Then,  with  one  accord,  all  rushed  upon  the 
houses  of  the  pious,  and  whomsoever  of  their  neighbours  they 
knew,  they  drove  thither  in  all  haste,  and  despoiled  and  plunder- 
ed them,  setting  apart  the  more  valuable  of  the  articles  for  them- 
selves ;  but  the  more  common  and  wooden  furniture  they  threw 
2K 


•258  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

about  and  burnt  in  the  roads,  presenting  a  sight  like  a  city  taken 
by  the  enemy. 

But  the  brethren  retired,  and  gave  way,  and  Uke  those  to  whom 
Paul  bears  witness,  they  also  regarded  the  plunder  of  their  goods 
with  joy.  And  I  know  not  whether  any  besides  one,  who  fell 
into  their  hands,  has  thus  far  denied  the  Lord.  But  they  also 
seized  that  admirable  virgin,  Apollonia,  then  in  advanced  age, 
and  beating  her  jaws,  they  broke  out  all  her  teeth,  and  kindling  a 
fire  before  the  city,  threatened  to  burn  her  alive,  unless  she  would 
repeat  their  impious  expressions.  She  appeared  at  first  to  shrink 
a  little,  but  when  suffered  to  go,  she  suddenly  sprang  into  the  fire 
and  was  consumed.  They  also  seized  a  certain  Serapion  in  his 
own  house,  and  after  torturing  him  with  the  severest  cruelties, 
and  breaking  all  his  limbs,  threw  him  headlong  from  an  upper 
story.  But  there  was  no  way,  no  public  road,  no  lane,  where 
we  could  walk,  whether  by  day  or  night ;  as  they  all,  at  all  times 
and  places,  cried  out,  whoever  would  refuse  to  repeat  those  im- 
pious expressions,  that  he  should  be  immediately  dragged  forth 
and  burnt. 

These  things  continued  to  prevail  for  the  most  part  after  this 
manner.  But  as  the  sedition  and  a  civil  war  overtook  the 
wretches,  their  cruelty  was  diverted  from  us  to  one  another. 
We  then  drew  a  little  breath,  whilst  their  rage  against  us  was  a 
little  abated.  But,  presently,  that  change  from  a  milder  reign 
was  announced  to  us,  and  much  terror  was  now  threatening  us. 
The  decree  had  arrived,  very  much  like  that  which  was  foretold 
by  our  Lord,  exhibiting  the  most  dreadful  aspect ;  so  that,  if  it 
were  possible,  the  very  elect  would  stumble.  All,  indeed,  were 
greatly  alarmed,  and  many  of  the  more  eminent  immediately  gave 
way  to  them ;  others,  who  were  in  public  offices,  were  led  forth 
by  their  very  acts ;  others  were  brought  by  their  acquaintance, 
and  when  called  by  name,  they  approached  the  impure  and  un- 
holy sacrifices.  But,  pale  and  trembling,  as  if  they  were  not  to 
sacrifice,  but  themselves  to  be  the  victims  and  the  sacrifices  to 
the  idols,  they  were  jeered  by  many  of  the  surrounding  multitude, 
and  were  obviously  equally  afraid  to  die  and  to  ofTer  the  sacri- 
fice.    But  some  advanced  with  greater  readiness  to  the  altars, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  259 

and  boldly  asserted  that  they  had  never  before  been  Christians. 
Concerning  whom  the  declaration  of  our  Lord  is  most  true,  that 
they  will  scarcely  be  saved.  Of  the  rest,  some  followed  the  one 
or  the  other  of  the  preceding ;  some  fled,  others  were  taken, 
and  of  these  some  held  out  as  far  as  the  prison  and  bonds,  and 
some  after  a  few  days  imprisonment  abjured  (Christianity)  before 
they  entered  the  tribunal.  But  some,  also,  after  enduring  the 
torture  for  a  time,  at  last  renounced.  Others,  however,  firm  and 
blessed  pillars  of  the  Lord,  confirmed  by  the  Lord  himself,  and 
receiving  in  themselves  strength  and  power,  suited  and  propor- 
tioned to  their  faith,  became  admirable  witnesses  of  his  kingdom. 
The  first  of  these  was  Julian,  a  man  afflicted  with  the  gout, 
neither  able  to  walk  nor  stand,  who,  with  two  others  that  carried 
him,  was  arraigned.  Of  these,  the  one  immediately  denied,  but 
the  other,  named  Cronion,  surnamed  Eunus,  and  the  aged  JuHan 
himself,  having  confessed  the  Lord,  was  carried  on  camels  through- 
out the  whole  city,  a  very  large  one  as  you  know,  and  in  this 
elevation  were  scourged,  and  finally  consumed  in  an  immense  fire, 
surrounded  by  the  thronging  crowds  of  spectators.  But  a  soldier, 
whose  name  was  Besas,  standing  near  them,  who  had  opposed  the 
insolence  of  the  multitude,  whilst  they  were  led  away  to  execu- 
tion, was  himself  assailed  with  their  loud  vociferations,  and  thus 
this  brave  soldier  of  God,  after  he  had  excelled  in  the  great  con- 
flict of  piety,  was  beheaded.  Another,  who  was  a  Lybian  by 
birth,  but  both  in  name  and  blessedness  a  Macar  (blessed),  after 
much  solicitation  from  the  judge  to  have  him  renounce,  still  re- 
maining inflexible,  was  burnt  alive.  After  these,  Epimachus  and 
Alexander,  who  ha-d  continued  for  a  long  time  in  prison,  enduring 
innumerable  suffering  from  the  scourges  and  scrapers,*  were  also 
destroyed  in  an  immense  fire.f     With  these  there  were  also 

*  The  instrument  of  torture  here  mentioned  was  an  iron  scraper,  calculated  to 
wound  and  tear  the  flesh  as  it  passed  over  it. 

I  The  same  expression,  jruf.  a<r^{<rT<»,  occurs  here  as  above.  We  have  rendered 
it,  therefore,  as  above,  by  the  word  fire.  Valesius,  who  is  followed  by  Shorting, 
translates  unslacked  lime.  But  why  he  should  understand  it  diflerently  here  from 
what  he  does  above,  does  not  appear.  The  martyrs  here  were  destroyed  by  the 
same  kind  of  death  as  the  preceding.    If  the  word  t'j?  did  not  determine  the  sig;. 


260  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

four  women ;  Ammonarium,  a  holy  virgin,  who  was  ingeniously- 
tortured  for  a  very  long  time  by  the  judge,  because  she  had 
plainly  declared  she  would  utter  none  of  those  expressions  which 
he  dictated;  and  having  made  good  her  promise,  she  was  led 
away.  The  others  were  the  venerable  and  aged  Mercuria; 
Dionysia,  also,  who  was  the  mother  of  many  children,  but  did 
not  love  them  more  than  the  Lord.  These,  after  the  governor 
became  ashamed  to  torture  them  to  no  purpose,  and  thus  to  be 
defeated  by  women,  all  died  by  the  sword,  without  the  trial  by 
tortures.  But  as  to  Ammonarium,  she,  like  a  chief  combatant, 
received  the  greatest  tortures  of  all.  Heron  and  Ater  and  Isido- 
rus,  who  were  Egyptians,  and  with  them  a  youth  named  Diosco- 
rus,  about  the  age  of  fifteen,  were  delivered  up.  At  first  he 
attempted  to  deceive  the  youth  with  fair  words,  as  if  he  could 
be  easily  brought  over,  and  to  force  him  by  tortures,  as  if  he 
would  readily  yield.  Dioscorus,  however,  was  neither  persuaded 
by  words  nor  constrained  by  tortures. 

After  scourging  the  rest  in  a  most  savage  manner,  and  seeing 
them  persevere,  he  also  delivered  these  to  the  fire.  But  Diosco- 
rus was  dismissed  by  the  judge,  who  admired  the  great  wisdom 
of  his  answers  to  the  questions  proposed  to  him,  and  was  also 
illustrious  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  with  the  view,  as  he  said,  to 
give  him  further  time  for  repentance  on  account  of  his  age.  And 
now  this  most  godly  Dioscorus  is  among  us,  expecting  a  longer  and 
a  more  severe  conflict.  A  certain  Nemesion,  also  an  Egyptian, 
was  first  indeed  accused  as  a  companion  of  thieves ;  but  when 
he  had  repelled  this  charge  before  the  centurion,  as  a  slander 
against  him,  in  which  there  was  no  truth,  being  reported  as  a 
Christian,  he  was  brought  as  a  prisoner  before  the  governor. 
He,  a  most  unrighteous  judge,  inflicted  a  punishment  more  than 
double  that  of  robbers,  both  scourges  and  tortures,  and  then 
committed  him  to  the  flames  between  thieves ;  thus  honouring 

nification,  there  might  be  some  reason,  perhaps,  for  this  version,  the  word  xo-Sstto,- 
having  Tirctvo;  understood.  But  it  is  surely  going  far  out  of  our  way  to  look  for 
this  meaning,  when  the  meaning  is  so  obviously  determined  by  the  many  circum- 
stances which  here  combine.  It  may  be  remarked,  by  the  way,  that  the  expressiou 
ifi  literally  inextinguishable  fire,  a  strong  hyperbole  for  immense  five. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  261 

the  blessed  martyr  after  the  example  of  Christ.  But  there  was. 
a  band  of  soldiers,  standing  in  a  dense  body  before  the  tribunal, 
who  were  Ammon,  and  Zeno,  and  Ptolemy,  and  Ingenuus,  to- 
gether with  the  aged  Theophilus.  A  certain  one  being  brought 
and  tried  as  a  Christian,  and  already-  inclining  to  deny,  they  stood 
near,  gnashed  with  their  teeth,  and  beckoned  to  them  with  their 
faces,  and  stretched  out  their  hands,  and  made  gestures  with  their 
bodies.  And  whilst  all  were  directing  their  eyes  upon  them,  be- 
fore they  were  seized  by  any  one  else,  they  ran  up  to  the  tribunal 
and  declared  that  they  were  Christians ;  so  that  the  governor 
and  his  associates  themselves  were  greatly  intimidated,  whilst 
those  who  were  condemned  were  most  cheerful  at  the  prospect 
of  what  they  were  to  suffer ;  but  their  judges  trembled.  And 
these,  therefore,  retired  from  the  tribunals,  and  rejoiced  in  their 
testimony,  in  which  God  had  enabled  them  to  triumph  gloriously. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

Other  accounts  given  by  Dlonysius. 

But  many  others  were  also  torn  asunder  in  cities  and  villages, 
of  which  I  shall  mention  one  as  an  example.  Ischyrion  was 
hired  by  one  of  the  rulers  in  the  capacity  of  a  steward.  This 
man  was  ordered  by  his  employer  to  sacrifice,  but  as  he  did  not 
obey,  he  was  abused  by  him.  Persevering  in  his  purpose,  he  was 
treated  with  contumely,  and  as  he  still  continued  to  bear  with 
all,  his  employer  seized  a  long  pole  and  slew  him,  by  thrusting 
it  through  his  bowels.  Why  should  I  mention  ^le  multitudes 
that  wandered  about  in  deserts  and  mountains,  that  perished  by 
hunger  and  thirst,  and  frost  and  diseases,  and  robbers  and  wild 
beasts  1  The  survivors  of  whom  are  the  witnesses  both  of  their 
election  and  victory.  But  I  will  add  one  fact  to  illustrate  this: 
"  Chasrempn  was  a  very  aged  bishop  of  the  city  called  Nile.  He 
fleeing  into  the  Arabian*  mountain,  with  his  partn^,vdid  not  re- 

*  Valesius  thinks  that  the  mountain  here  mentioned,  was  not,  as  the  name  seems 
to  imply,  in  Arabia,  but  translates  in  both  places  where  it  occurs,  Arabicus  mons, 


262  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

turn  again,  nor  could  the  brethren  learn  any  thing  of  him  any 
more,  though  frequent  search  was  made  for  him.  They  neither 
found  them  nor  their  bodies,  but  many  were  carried  off  as  slaves 
by  the  barbarous  Saracens,  to  the  same  mountains.  Some  of 
these  were  ransomed  with  difficulty,  others  not  even  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  And  these  facts,  I  have  stated  brethren,  not  without 
an  object,  but  that  thou  mayest  see  how  great  and  terrible  dis- 
tresses have  befallen  us.  Of  which,  indeed,  they  who  have  been 
most  tried,  also  understand  the  most."  Then,  after  a  few  re- 
marks, he  observes :  "  But  these  same  martyrs,  who  are  now  sit- 
ting with  Christ,  and  are  the  sharers  in  his  kingdom,  and  the 
partners  in  his  judgment,  and  who  are  now  judging  with  him,  re- 
ceived those  of  the  brethren  that  fell  away,  and  had  been  con- 
victed of  sacrificing,  (to  idols,)  and  when  they  saw  their  conver- 
sion and  repentance,  and  that  it  might  be  acceptable  to  him  who 
doth  not  by  any  means  wish  the  death  of  the  sinner  so  much  as 
their  repentance,  and  having  proved  them  (as  sincere)  they  re- 
ceived and  assembled  with  them.  They  also  communicated 
with  them  in  prayer  and  at  their  feasts.  What  then,  brethren, 
do  ye  advise  concerning  these?  What  should  we  do?  Let  us 
join  in  our  sentiments  with  them,  and  let  us  observe  their  judg- 
ment and  their  charity ;  and  let  us  kindly  receive  those  who  were 
treated  with  such  compassion  by  them.  Or  should  we  rather 
pronounce  their  judgment  unjust,  and  set  ourselves  up  as  the 
judges  of  their  opinion  ?  And  thus  grieve  the  spirit  of  mildness, 
and  overturn  established  order  ?"  These  remarks  were  probably 
added  by  Dionysius  when  he  spoke  of  those  that  had  fallen  away 
through  weakness,  during  the  persecution. 

Arabian  mountain.     He  thinks  that  it  was  so  called  merely  from  its  vicinity  or 
contiguity  to  Arabia. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  263 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

Of  JYovatus,  his  manners  and  habits,  and  his  heresy. 

About  this  time  appeared  Novatus,  a  presbyter  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  and  a  man  elevated  with  haughtiness  against  these  (that 
had  fallen),  as  if  there  was  no  room  for  them  to  hope  salvation, 
not  even,  if  they  performed  every  thing  for  a  genuine  and  pure 
confession.  He  thus  became  the  leader  of  the  peculiar  heresy 
of  those  who,  in  the  pomp  of  their  imaginations,  called  themselves 
Cathari.  A  very  large  council  being  held  on  account  of  this,  at 
which  sixty  indeed  of  the  bishops,  but  a  still  greater  number  of 
presbyters  and  deacons  were  present ;  the  pastors  of  the  remain- 
ing provinces,  according  to  their  places,  deliberated  separately 
what  should  be  done :  this  decree  was  passed  by  all ;  "  That 
Novatus,  indeed,  and  those  who  so  arrogantly  united  with  him, 
and  those  that  had  determined  to  adopt  the  uncharitable  and 
most  inhuman  opinion  of  the  man,  these  they  considered  among 
those  that  were  alienated  from  the  church ;  but  that  brethren 
who  had  incurred  any  calamity  should  be  treated  and  healed 
with  the  remedies  of  repentance." 

There  are  also  epistles  of  Cornelius,  bishop  of  Rome,  addressed 
to  Fabius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  which  show  the  transactions  of 
the  council  of  Rome,  as  also,  the  opinions  of  all  those  in  Italy  and 
Africa,  and  the  regions  there.  Others  there  are  also  written  in 
the  Roman  tongue,  from  Cyprian,  and  the  bishops  with  him  in 
Africa.  In  these,  it  is  shown  that  they  also  agree  in  the  neces- 
sity of  reheving  those  who  had  fallen  under  severe  temptations, 
and  also  in  the  propriety  of  excommunicating  the  author  of  the 
heresy,  and  all  that  were  of  his  party.  To  these  is  attached  also 
an  epistle  from  Cornelius  on  the  decrees  of  the  council,  besides 
others  on  the  deeds  of  Novatus,  from  which  we  ma  y  add  extracts, 
that  those  who  read  the  present  work  may  know  the  circum- 
stances respecting  him.  What  kind  of  a  character  Novatus  was, 
Cornelius  informs  Fabius,  writing  as  follows  :  "  But  that 
you  may  know,  savs  he,  how  this  singular  man,  who  formerly 
25    " 


264  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

aspired  to  the  episcopate,  and  secretly  concealed  within  himself 
this  precipitate  ambition,  making  use  of  those  confessors  that 
adhered  to  him  from  the  beginning,  as  a  cloak  for  his  own  folly 
I  will  proceed  to  relate :  Maximus,  a  presbyter  of  our  church, 
and  Urbanus,  twice  obtained  the  highest  reputation  for  their  con- 
fessions. Sidonius  also,  and  Celerinus,  a  man  who,  by  the  mercy 
of  God,  bore  every  kind  of  torture  in  the  most  heroic  manner,  and 
by  the  firmness  of  his  own  faith  strengthened  the  weakness  of  the 
liesh,  completely  worsted  the  adversary.  These  men,  therefore, 
as  they  knew  him,  and  had  well  sounded  his  artifice  and  dupli- 
city, as  also  his  perjuries  and  falsehoods,  his  dissocial  and  savage 
character,  returned  to  the  holy  church,  and  announced  all  his 
devices  and  wickedness,  which  he  had  for  a  long  time  dissembled 
within  himself,  and  this  too  in  the  presence  of  many  bishops  ;  and 
the  same  also,  in  the  presence  of  many  presbyters,  and  a  great 
number  of  laymen,  at  the  same  time  lamenting  and  sorrowing 
that  they  had  been  seduced,  and  had  abandoned  the  church  for  a 
short  time,  through  the  agency  of  that  artful  and  malicious 
beast."  After  a  little,  he  further  says :  "  We  have  seen,  beloved 
brother,  within  a  short  time,  an  extraordinary  conversion  and 
change  in  him.  For  this  most  illustrious  man,  and  he  who  af- 
firmed with  the  most  dreadful  oaths,  that  he  never  aspired  to  the 
episcopate,  has  suddenly  appeared  a  bishop,  as  thrown  among  us 
by  some  machine.  For  this  dogmatist,  this  (pretended)  cham- 
pion of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  when  he  attempted  to  seize  and 
usurp  the  episcopate  not  given  him  from  above,  selected  two 
desperate  characters  as  his  associates,  to  send  them  to  some  small, 
and  that  the  smallest,  part  of  Italy,  and  from  thence,  by  some  ficti- 
tious plea,  to  impose  upon  three  bishops  there,  men  altogether  ig- 
norant and  simple,  affirming  and  declaring,  that  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  come  to  Rome  in  all  haste,  that  all  the  dissension 
which  had  there  arisen  might  be  removed  through  their  media- 
tion, in  conjunction  with  the  other  bishops.  When  these  men 
had  come,  being,  as  before  observed,  but  sim.ple  and  plain  in  dis- 
cerning the  artifices  and  villany  of  the  wicked,  and  when  shut  up 
with  men  of  the  same  stamp  with  himself,  at  the  tenth  hour,  when 
heated  with  wine  and  surfeiting,  they  forced  them  by  a  kind  of 


ECCLESIASTICAL  fflSTORY.  265 

shadowy,  and  empty  imposition  of  hands,  to  confer  the  episcopate 
upon  him,  and  which,  though  by  no  means  suited  to  him,  he  claims 
by  fraud  and  treachery.  One  of  these,  not  long  after,  returned  to 
his  church,  mourning  and  confessing  his  error,  with  whom  also  we 
communed  as  a  layman,  as  all  the  people  present  interceded  for 
him,  and  we  sent  successors  to  the  other  bishops  ordaining  them 
in  the  place  where  they  were.  This  assertor  of  the  gospel  then 
did  not  know  that  there  should  be  but  one  bishop  in  a  catholic 
church.*  (sv  xo^okiXYi  8XX?iy](yLa.)  In  which,  however,  he  well 
knew,  (for  how  could  he  be  ignorant  ?)  that  there  were  forty-six 
presbyters,  seven  deacons,  seven  sub-deacons,  forty-two  acoluthi 
(clerks,)  exorcists,  readers,  and  janitors,  in  all  fifty-two :  widows, 
with  the  afflicted  and  needy,  more  than  fifteen  hundred ;  all 
which  the  goodness  and  love  of  God  doth  support  and  nourish.  But 
neither  this  great  number,  so  necessary  in  the  church,  nor  those 
that  by  the  providence  of  God  were  wealthy  and  opulent,  to- 
gether with  the  innumerable  multitude  of  the  people,  were  able 
to  recall  him  and  turn  him  from  such  a  desperate  and  presump- 
tuous course." 

And,  again,  after  these,  he  subjoins  the  following :  "  Now  let 
us  also  tell  by  what  means  and  conduct  he  had  the  assurance  to 
claim  the  episcopate.  Whether,  indeed,  it  was  because  he  was 
engaged  in  the  church  from  the  beginning,  and  endured  many- 
conflicts  for  her,  and  encountered  many  and  great  dangers  in  the 

*  The  word  catholic,  in  its  Greek  etymology,  means  universal,  as  we  have  some- 
times explained  it  in  this  translation.  It  is  applied  to  the  Christian,  as  a  universal 
church,  partly  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ancient  church  of  the  Jews,  which  wa3 
limited,  partial,  and  particular  in  its  duration,  subjects,  and  country.  The  Chris- 
tian is  also  called  a  universal  or  catholic  church,  because  it  must  in  regard  to  doc- 
trine hold  qjiod  semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ub  omnibus.  In  this  latter  view,  which  it 
should  be  well  observed  is  the  original  application,  it  is  synonymous  with  orthodox. 
This  is  evident,  from  the  fact  that  our  author  applies  it  to  different  churches  in 
other  parts  of  his  history.  And  in  the  present  instance  the  expression  is  general, 
a  catholic  church.  It  is  in  a  sense  allied  to  this  also,  that  we  are,  no  doubt,  to  un- 
derstand the  title  of  our  general  (catholic)  epistles,  in  the  New  Testament.  They 
are  catholic,  because  as  consonant  to  the  doctrines  of  the  church  in  all  respects,  they 
have  been  also  universally  received.  In  this  sense,  the  term  is  also  synonymous 
with  canonical. 

2L 


266  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

cause  of  true  religion  ?  None  of  all  this.  To  him,  indeed,  the 
author  and  instigator  of  his  faith  was  Satan,  who  entered  into 
and  dwelt  in  him  a  long  time.  Who  aided  by  the  exorcists,  when 
attacked  with  an  obstinate  disease,  and  being  supposed  at  the 
point  of  death,  was  baptised  by  aspersion,  in  the  bed  on  which 
he  lay ;  if,  indeed,  it  be  proper  to  say  that  one  Hke  him  did  re- 
ceive baptism.  But  neither  when  he  recovered  from  disease,  did 
he  partake  of  other  things,  which  the  rules  of  the  church  prescribe 
as  duty,  nor  was  he  sealed  (in  confirmation)  by  the  bishop.  But 
as  he  did  not  obtain  this,  how  could  he  obtain  the  holy  spirit  t" 
And,  again,  soon  after,  he  says :  "  He  denied  he  was  a  presbyter, 
through  cowardice  and  the  love  of  life,  in  the  time  of  persecution. 
For  when  requested  and  exhorted  by  the  deacons,  that  he  should 
go  forth  from  his  retreat,  in  which  he  had  imprisoned  himself, 
and  should  come  to  the  relief  of  the  brethren,  as  far  as  was  pro- 
per and  in  the  power  of  a  presbyter  to  assist  brethren  requiring 
relief,  he  was  so  far  from  yielding  to  any  exhortation  of  the 
deacons,  that  he  went  away  offended  and  left  them.  For  he 
said  that  he  wished  to  be  a  presbyter  no  longer,  for  he  was  an 
admirer  of  a  different  philosophy." 

Passing  over  some  other  matters,  our  author  again  adds : — 
"  This  illustrious  character  abandoning  the  church  of  God,  in 
which,  when  he  was  converted  he  was  honoured  with  the  pres- 
bytery, and  that  by  the  favour  of  the  bishop  placing  his  hands 
upon  him  (ordaining  him),  to  the  order  of  bishops,  and  as  all  the 
clergy  and  many  of  the  laity  resisted  it,  since  it  was  not  lawful 
that  one  baptized  in  his  sick  bed  by  aspersion,  as  he  was,  should 
be  promoted  to  any  order  of  the  clergy,  the  bishop  requested  that 
it  should  be  granted  him  to  ordain  only  this  one."  After  this,  he 
adds  another  deed,  the  worst  of  all  the  man's  absurdities,  thus  ; 
"  For  having  made  the  oblation,  and  distributed  a  part  to  each 
one,  whilst  giving  this,  he  compels  the  unhappy  men  to  swear  in- 
stead of  blessing ;  holding  the  hands  of  the  one  receiving,  with 
both  of  his  own,  and  not  letting  them  go  until  he  had  sworn  in 
these  words,  for  I  shall  repeat  the  very  words :  '  Swear  to  me, 
by  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  will 
never   desert   me,   nor   tiu-n   to  Cornelius.'     And  the  unhappy 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  267 

man  is  then  not  suffered  to  taste  until  he  has  first  cursed  him- 
self; and  instead  of  saying  Amen  after  he  had  taken  the  biead, 
he  says, '  I  will  no  longer  return  to  CorneHus.' "  And,  after  other 
matters,  he  again  proceeds,  as  follows :  "  Now,  you  must  know, 
that  he  is  stripped  and  abandoned,  the  brethren  leaving  him  every 
day  and  returning  to  the  church.  He  was  also  excommuni- 
cated by  Moses,  that  blessed  witness,  who  but  lately  endured  a 
glorious  and  w^onderful  martyrdom,  and  who,  whilst  yet  among 
the  living,  seeing  the  audacity  and  the  folly  of  the  man,  excluded 
him  from  the  communion,  together  with  the  five  presbyters  that 
had  cut  themselves  off  from  the  church." 

At  the  close  of  the  epistle,  he  gives  a  list  of  the  bishops  who 
had  come  to  Rome,  and  had  discarded  the  incorrigible  disposition 
of  Novatus ;  at  the  same  time  adding  the  names,  together  with 
the  churches  governed  by  each.  He  also  mentions  those  that 
were  not  present  at  Rome,  but  who,  by  letter,  assented  to  the 
decision  of  the  former,  adding  also  the  names  and  the  particular 
cities  whence  each  one  had  written.  Such  is  the  account  written 
by  Cornelius  to  Fabius  bishop  of  Antioch. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

Diony sins' s  account  ofSerapion. 


In-  a  letter  to  this  same  Fabius,  who  in  some  measure  seemed 
to  incline  to  this  schism,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  amongst  many 
other  matters  that  he  wrote  to  him  on  repentance,  and  in  which 
he  describes  the  conflicts  which  the  martyrs  had  recently  endured 
at  Alexandria,  with  other  accounts,  relates  one  fact  wonderful 
indeed.  This  we  deem  belonging  to  our  history,  and  is  as  follows : 
"  But  I  will  give  you  one  example  that  occurred  with  us.  There 
was  a  certain  Serapion,  an  aged  believer,  who  had  passed  his 
long  life  irreproachably,  but  as  he  had  sacrificed  during  the  per- 
secution, though  he  frequently  begged,  no  one  would  listen  to  him. 
He  was  taken  sick,  and  continued  three  days  in  succession  speech- 
less and  senseless.  On  the  fourth  day,  recovering  a  little,  he 
25^ 


268  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

called  his  grandchild  to  him,  and  said,  "  O  son,  how  long  do  you 
detain  me?  I  beseech  you  hasten,  and  quickly  absolve  me. 
Call  one  of  the  presbyters  to  me.  Saying  this,  he  again  became 
speechless.  The  boy  ran  to  the  presbyter.  But  it  was  night, 
and  the  presbyter  was  sick.  As  I  had,  however,  before  issued 
an  injunction,  that  those  at  the  point  of  death,  if  they  desired  it, 
and  especially  if  they  entreated  for  it  before,  should  receive  abso- 
lution, that  they  might  depart  from  life  in  comfortable  hope,  I 
gave  the  boy  a  small  portion  of  the  eucharist,  telling  him  to  dip 
it  in  water,  and  to  drop  it  into  the  mouth  of  the  old  man.  The  boy 
returned  with  the  morsel.  When  he  came  near,  before  he  en- 
tered, Serapion  having  again  recovered  himself,  said,  '  Thou  hast 
come,  my  son,  but  the  presbyter  could  not  come.  But  do  thou 
quickly  perform  what  thou  art  commanded,  and  dismiss  me.' 
The  boy  moistened  it,  and  at  the  same  time  dropped  it  into  the 
old  man's  mouth.  And  he,  having  swallowed  a  little,  immediately 
expired.  Was  he  not,  then,  evidently  preserved,  and  did  he  not 
continue  living  until  he  was  absolved ;  and  his  sins  being  wiped 
away,  he  could  be  acknowledged  as  a  believer  for  the  many  good 
acts  that  he  had  done?"     Thus  far  Dionysius. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

The  epistle  of  Dionysius  to  JVovatus. 

Let  us  also  see  what  kind  of  epistle  the  same  writer  addressed 
to  Novatus,  who  was  then  disturbing  the  brethren  at  Rome; 
since  he  pretended  that  certain  brethren  were  the  cause  of  his 
apostacy  and  schism,  because  he  had  been  forced  by  them  to 
proceed  thus  far.  Observe  the  manner  in  which  he  writes  to 
him :  "  Dionysius  sends  greeting  to  his  brother  Novatus.  If,  as 
you  say,  you  were  forced  against  your  will,  you  will  show  it  by 
retiring  voluntarily.  For  it  was  a  duty  to  suffer  any  thing  at  all, 
so  as  not  to  afflict  the  church  of  God;  and,  indeed,  it  would  not 
be  more  inglorious  to  suffer  even  martyrdom  for  its  sake,  than  to 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  269 

sacrifice ;  and  in  my  opinion  it  would  have  been  a  greater  glory 
For  there,  in  the  one  case,  the  individual  gives  a  testimony  for 
his  own  soul,  but  in  the  other  he  bears  witness  for  the  whole 
church.  And  now,  if  thou  persuade  or  constrain  the  brethren  to 
return  to  unanimity,  thy  uprightness  will  be  greater  than  thy  de- 
lusion, and  the  latter  will  not  be  laid  to  thy  charge,  but  the  other 
will  be  applauded ;  but  if  thou  art  unable  to  prevail  with  thy 
friends,  save  thy  own  soul.  With  the  hope  that  thou  art  desirous 
of  peace  in  the  Lord,  I  bid  thee  farewell."  Such  was  the  epistle 
of  Dionysius  to  Novatus. 


CHAPTER  XLVL 

Other  epistles  of  Dionysius. 


He  wrote,  also,  an  epistle  to  the  brethren  in  Egypt,  On  Repent 
ance,  in  which  he  gives  his  opinion  respecting  those  who  had 
fallen,  and  in  which  he  also  gives  the  degrees  of  faults.  There 
is  also  a  separate  work  of  his  extant,  On  Repentance,  addressed 
to  Conon  bishop  of  Hermopolis ;  and  also  another  epistle  of  re- 
proof to  his  flock  at  Alexandria.  Among  these,  is  also  the  work 
addressed  to  Origen,  On  Martyrdom;  also,  an  epistle  to  the 
brethren  of  Laodicea,  where  Thelymidres  was  bishop.  He  wrote 
in  like  manner  to  the  Armenians,  On  Repentance,  where  Meru- 
zanes  was  bishop.  Besides  all  these,  he  wrote  to  Cornelius  at 
Rome,  in  answer  to  an  epistle  from  him,  against  Novatus ;  in 
which  answer  he  shows  that  he  had  been  invited  by  Helenus, 
bishop  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  and  the  rest  that  were  collected  with 
him,  viz.  Firmilianus,  bishop  in  Cappadocia,  and  Thcoctistus  of 
Palestine,  that  he  should  meet  them  at  the  council  of  Antioch, 
where  certain  persons  were  trying  to  establish  the  schism  of  No- 
vatus. Besides  this,  he  wrote  that  he  had  been  informed  Fabius 
was  dead,  but  that  Demetrianus  was  appointed  his  successor  in 
the  episcopate  of  the  church  at  Antioch.  He  also  writes  respect- 
ing the  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  these  words :  "  As  to  the  blessed 


w 


270  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Alexander,  he  was  cast  into  prison,  and  departed  happily." 
Next  to  this,  there  is  also  another  epistle  of  Dionysius  to  the  Ro 
mans.  On  the  Office  of  Deacons,  sent  by  Hippolytus.  To  the 
same  people  he  also  wrote  another  epistle,  On  Peace ;  also,  On 
Repentance ;  and  another,  again,  to  the  confessors  there,  who 
were  yet  affected  with  the  opinion  of  Novatus.  To  these  same 
he  wrote  two  others,  after  they  had  returned  to  the  church.  To 
many  others,  also,  he  addressed  letters  of  admonition  and  exhort- 
ation, calculated  to  afford  various  advantage,  even  now,  to  those 
who  wish  to  study  his  writings. 


BOOK   VII. 


That  great  bishop  of  Alexandria,  Dionysius,  shall  aid  us  also 
in  the  composition  of  the  seventh  book  of  our  history,  by  extract- 
ing from  his  works  whatsoever  particulars  of  his  day  he  has 
separately  detailed  in  the  epistles  that  he  has  left  us.  With 
these,  at  least,  we  shall  commence  our  account. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  great  loickedness  of  Decius  and  Gallus. 

Decius  had  scarcely  reigned  two  years,  when  he,  with  his 
children,  was  slain.  Gallus  was  his  successor.  Origen  died  at 
this  time,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age.  Dionysius,  in  an 
epistle  to  Hermamon,  makes  the  following  remarks  on  Gallus : 
*'  But  neither  did  Gallus  understand  the  wickedness  of  Decius, 
nor  did  he  foresee  what  it  was  that  had  destroyed  him,  but  he 
stumbled  at  the  same  stone  lying  before  his  eyes.  For  when  his 
reign  was  advancing  prosperously,  and  his  affairs  succeeding  ac- 
cording to  his  wishes,  he  persecuted  those  holy  men,  who  inter- 
ceded with  God  both  for  his  peace  and  safety.  Hence,  together 
with  them,  he  also  persecuted  the  very  prayers  that  were  offered 
up  in  his  behalf."     Thus  much  he  has  said  respecting  him. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  bishops  of  Rome  at  this  time. 

After  Cornelius  had  held  the  episcopal  office  at  Rome  about 
three  years,  he  was  succeeded  by  Lucius,  but  the  latter  did  not 

271 


272  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

hold  the  office  quite  eight  months,  when  dying  he  transferred  it  to 
Stephen.  To  this  Stephen,  Dionysius  wrote  the  first  of  his  epis- 
tles on  baptism,  as  there  was  no  little  controversy,  whether  those 
turning  from  any  heresy  whatever,  should  be  purified  by  baptism  ; 
as  the  ancient  practice  prevailed  with  regard  to  such,  that  they 
should  only  have  imposition  of  hands  with  prayer. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Cypnan,  and  the  bishops  connected  ivith  him,  maintained,  that 
those  icho  had  turned  from  heretical  error,  should  be  baptized 
again. 

Cyprian,  who  was  bishop  (Ttoifiyiv)  of  the  church  of  Carthage, 
was  of  opinion,  that  they  should  be  admitted  on  no  conditions, 
before  they  were  first  purified  from  their  error  by  baptism.  But 
Stephen,  who  thought  that  no  innovations  should  be  made  con 
trary  to  traditions  that  had  prevailed  from  ancient  times,  was 
greatly  offended  at  this. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  epistles  that  Dionysius  urate  on  this  subject. 

Dionysius,  therefore,  after  addressing  to  him  many  arguments 
by  letter,  on  this  subject,  finally  showed,  that  as  the  persecution 
had  abated,  the  churches,  every  where  averse  to  the  innovations 
of  Novatus,  had  peace  among  themselves.  But  he  writes  as 
follows. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORV^.  273 

CHAPTER   V. 

The  peace  after  the  persecution. 

"Now  I  wish  you  to  understand,  my  brother,  that  all  the 
churches  throughout  the  east,  and  farther,  that  were  formerly 
divided,  have  been  united  again.  All  the  bishops,  also,  are  every 
where  in  harmony,  rejoicitig  exceedingly  at  the  peace  which  has 
been  established  beyond  all  expectation.  These  are,  Demctrianus 
of  Antioch,  Theoctistus  of  Cesarea,  Mazabanes  of  yElia  after  the 
death  of  Alexander,  Marinus  of  Tyre,  Heliodorus  of  Laodicea 
after  the  decease  of  Thelymidres,  Helenus  of  Tarsus,  and  all 
the  churches  of  Cilicia,  Firmilianus,  and  all  Cappadocla ;  for  I 
have  mentioned  only  the  more  distinguished  of  the  bishops  by 
name,  that  neither  the  length  of  my  letter,  nor  the  burden  of  my 
words,  may  offend  you.  All  the  provinces  of  Syria  and  Arabia, 
which  at  different  times  you  supplied  with  necessaries,  and  to 
whom  you  have  now  written,  Mesopotamia,  Pontus,  and  Bithynia, 
and  to  comprehend  all  in  a  word,  all  are  rejoicing  every  where 
at  the  unanimity  and  brotherly  love  now  prevailing,  and  are  glo- 
rifying God  for  the  same."     Such  are  the  words  of  Dionysius. 

But  after  Stephen  had  held  the  episcopal  office  two  years,  he 
was  succeeded  by  Xystus,  and  Dionysius  having  addressed  a 
second  letter  to  him  on  baptism,  at  the  same  time  showing  the 
opinion  and  decision  passed  by  Stephen  and  the  rest  of  the 
bishops,  makes  the  following  remarks  on  Stephen :  "  He  had  writ- 
ten before  respecting  Helenus  and  Firmilianus,  and  all  those  from 
Cilicia,  and  Cappadocia,  and  Galatia,  and  all  the  nations  adjoin- 
ing, that  he  would  not  have  communion  with  them  on  this  account, 
because  they,  said  he,  rebaptized  the  heretics.  And  behold,  I  pray 
you,  the  importance  of  the  matter.  For  in  reaHty,  as  I  have 
ascertained,  decrees  have  been  passed  in  the  greatest  councils  of 
the  bishops,  that  those  who  come  from  the  heretics,  are  first  to  be 
instructed,  and  then  are  to  be  washed  and  purified  from  the  filth 
of  their  old  and  impure  leaven.  And  respecting  all  these  things, 
I  have  sent  letters  entreating  them.  After  stating  other  matters, 
2M 


274  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

he  proceeds :  "  But  I  have  also  written  to  our  beloved  and  fellow- 
presbyters  Dionysius  and  Philemon,  who  agreed  before  with 
Stephen  in  sentiment,  and  wrote  to  me  on  these  matters ;  before, 
indeed,  I  wrote  briefly,  but  now  more  fully."  Such  were  the  ac- 
counts respecting  the  controversy  mentioned. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  heresy  of  Sabellius. 


Speaking  of  the  heresy  of  Sabellius,  that  arose  about  this 
time,  and  that  was  then  increasing,  he  writes  as  follows :  "  But 
as  to  the  opinion  which  is  now  agitated  at  Ptolemais  of  Penta- 
polis,  it  is  impious,  and  replete  with  blasphemy  towards  Almighty 
God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  abounds  also 
in  much  infidelity  in  regard  to  his  only  begotten  Son,  and  the  first 
born  of  all  creation,  the  incarnate  word;  it  abounds  also  in  ir- 
reverence to  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  as  the  brethren  came  to  me 
from  both  sides,  both  before  the  letters  were  received  and  the 
question  was  discussed,  I  drew  up  a  more  regular  treatise  on  the 
subject,  as  far  as  I  was  enabled  under  God ;  copies  of  which  I 
have  sent  to  thee. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  execrable  error  of  the  heretics,  the  divine  vision  of  Dionysius, 
and  the  ecclesiastical  canon  given  to  him. 

But  in  the  third  epistle  on  baptism,  which  Dionysius  wrote  to 
Philemon  a  presbyter  of  Rome,  he  relates  the  following  circum- 
stances :  "  I  perused,"  says  he,  "  the  works  and  traditions  of  the 
heretics,  defiling  my  mind  for  a  little  with  their  execrable  senti- 
ments ;  but  I  have  also  derived  this  benefit  from  them,  viz.,  to 
refute  them  in  my  own  mind,  and  to  feel  the  greater  disgust  at 
them.  And  when  a  certain  brother  of  the  presbyters  attempted  to 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  275 

restrain  me,  and  was  much  in  dread  lest  I  should  be  carried  away 
by  this  sink  of  iniquity,  saying  that  my  mind  would  be  corrupted, 
in  which  he  spoke  the  truth,  as  I  thought,  I  was  confirmed  in 
my  purpose  by  a  vision  sent  me  from  heaven,  when  a  voice  came 
to  me  and  commanded  me  in  words  as  follows  :  '  Read  all  that 
thou  takest  in  hand,  for  thou  art  qualified  to  correct  and  prove  all, 
and  this  very  thing  has  been  the  cause  of  thy  faith  in  Christ  from 
the  beginning.'  I  received  the  vision,  as  coinciding  with  the 
apostolic  declaration,  which  says  to  the  more  competent,  '  Be 
ye  skilful  moneychangers.'  " 

Then  after  some  remarks  on  all  the  heresies,  he  adds :  "  This 
rule  and  form  I  have  received  from  our  fjither*  (TfaTta)  the  bless- 
ed Heraclas,  that  those  who  come  from  the  heretics,  although 
they  had  apostatized  from  the  church,  or  rather  that  had  not  apos- 
tatized, but  seemed  to  have  communion  with  the  brethren,  but  were 
reported  as  frequenting  some  one  of  those  who  taught  strange 
doctrines,  after  they  had  been  expelled  from  the  church  were 
not  admitted  again  by  him,  though  they  entreated  much,  until 
they  had  publicly  declared  all  that  they  had  heard  from  their 
adversaries ;  and  then  indeed  he  admitted  them  to  commune,  with- 
out deeming  another  baptism  necessary  for  them.  For  they  had 
already  before  received  the  Holy  Spiritf  from  him."  But  after 
agitating  the  question  again  considerably,  he  adds :  "  I  have  also 
understood  that  this  practice  was  introduced  not  only  by  those 
of  Africa,  but  also  long  since,  during  the  times  of  those  bishops 
before  us,  in  the  most  populous  churches,  the  same  thing  was 
decreed  by  the  councils  of  the  brethren  at  Iconium  and  Synada." 
To  overturn  their  determinations,  and  to  drive  them  into  contention 
and  strife,  I  cannot  endure.     For  thou  shalt  not  remove,  as  it  is 

•  The  -word  ^«.t«;  here  used,  and  applied  by  Dionysius  to  his  predecessor  at 
Alexandria  was,  as  we  see  in  this  instance,  applied  to  the  more  aged  and  venerable 
prelates.  We  thus  see  the  origin  of  the  word  pope,  Latin  papa,  German  pabst. 
This  word  is  no  doubt  to  be  traced  to  the  language  of  nature,  as  forming  the  first 
syllables  that  .the  infant  lisps.  It  is  explained  by  a  scholiast  on  Juvenal,  Senex 
veneratione  dignus,  pater.     See  Juv.  Sat.  vi.  632. 

I  This  phrase  was  applied  where  the  bishop  admitted  the  heretics  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands. 

26 


276  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

said,  the  landmarks  of  thy  neighbour,  which  thy  fathers  have 
placed.  His  fourth  epistle  On  Baptism  was  written  to  Dyonisius 
at  Rome,  who  was  then  a  presbyter,  but  ere  long  was  ordained 
bishop  of  that  church.  From  this  it  is  evident,  that  this  same 
Dionysius  of  Rome  was  a  learned  and  excellent  man.  as  is 
proved  by  the  Dionysius  of  Alexandria.  But  he  wrote  to  him, 
among  other  matters,  respecting  the  affairs  of  Novatus,  as  follows. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  heterodoxy  ofJVovatus. 


We  justly  cherish  an  aversion  to  the  Novatian,  says  he,  by 
whom  the  church  is  split  asunder,  and  some  of  the  brethren 
have  been  dravt^n  into  impiety  and  blasphemy,  and  most  nefari- 
ous doctrine  has  been  introduced  respecting  God,  and  our  most 
gracious  Lord  and  Saviour  Christ  has  been  calumniated  as  de- 
void of  compassion ;  which  also,  beside  all  this,  sets  aside  the 
holy  baptism,  and  overturns  the  faith  and  confession  that  pre- 
cede it,  and  totally  drives  away  the  Holy  Spirit  from  themselves, 
should  there  happen  to  be  any  hope  yet,  that  he  would  remain  or 
return  to  them. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  ungodly  baptism  of  heretics. 


But  there  was  also  a  fifth  epistle  written  by  him  to  Xystus, 
bishop  of  Rome,  in  which,  stating  many  things  against  the  here- 
tics, he  relates  that  some  occurrence  like  the  following  took  place 
in  his  times.  *'  Really  brother,"  says  he,  "  I  need  your  counsel,  and 
I  beg  your  opinion,  on  an  affair  that  has  presented  itself  to  me, 
and  in  which,  indeed,  I  am  afraid  I  may  be  deceived.  One  of  the 
brethren  that  collected  with  us,  who  was  considered  a  believer 
long  since,  even  before  my  ordination,  and  who  I  think  asseiH' 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  277 

bled  with  us  before  the  appointment,  (consecration)  of  the  blessed 
Heraclas ;  this  man  happening  to  be  present  with  those  that  were 
immediately  baptized,  and  listening  to  the  questions  and  answers, 
came  to  me  weeping  and  bewailing  himself,  casting  himself  also 
at  my  feet ;  he  began  to  acknowledge  and  abjure  his  baptism  by 
the  heretics,  because  their  baptism  was  nothing  like  this,  nor  in 
deed,  had  any  thing  in  common  with  it,  for  it  was  filled  with  im- 
piety and  blasphemies.  He  said  also,  that  his  soul  now  was 
wholly  pierced,  and  he  had  not  confidence  enough  to  raise 
his  eyes  to  God,  coming  from  those  execrable  words  and  deeds. 
Hence  he  prayed  that  he  might  have  the  benefit  of  this  most  per- 
fect cleansing,  reception  and  grace,  which  indeed  I  did  not  dare 
to  do,  saying,  that  his  long  communion  was  sufficient  for  this. 
For  one  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  hearing  thanksgiving,  and 
repeating  the  amen,  and  standing  at  the  table,  and  extending  his 
hand  to  receive  the  sacred  elements,  and  after  receiving  and  be- 
coming a  partaker  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour Christ  for  a  long  time,  I  would  not  dare  to  renew  again  any 
further.  I  exhorted  him,'  therefore,  to  take  courage,  and  with  a 
firm  faith  and  good  conscience  to  approach  and  take  part  with 
the  saints  in  the  solemnity  of  the  holy  supper.  But  he  did  not 
cease  lamenting.  He  shuddered  to  approach  the. table,  and 
scarcely  could  endure  it,  even  when  exhorted  to  be  present  at 
prayers." 

There  is  beside  the  above  epistles,  also,  one  and  another  of 
the  same  on  baptism,  from  him  and  his  church,  addressed  to 
Xystus  and  the  church  of  Rome.  In  this  he  protracts  his  dis- 
course to  a  great  length  of  argument  on  the  question  there  dis- 
cussed. There  is  also  a  certain  other  epistle  of  his  besides  these, 
addressed  to  Dionysius  of  Rome,  that  concerning  Lucianus.  But 
thus  much  respecting  these. 


» 
278  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Valerian,  and  the  persecution  raised  by  him. 

Gallus  had  not  held  the  government  quite  two  years  when  he 
was  removed,  and  A^alerian,  with  his  son  Gallienus,  succeeded  in 
his  place.  What  Dionysius  has  also  said  respecting  him,  may  be 
learned  from  his  epistle  to  Hermammon,  in  which  he  gives  the 
following  account :  "  In  like  manner  it  was  revealed  to  John,  and 
there  was,"  says  he,  "  a  mouth  given  him,  speaking  great  things, 
and  blasphemy.  And  there  was  given  him  power,  and  forty- 
two  months,  but  it  is  wonderful  that  both  took  place  in  Valerian, 
and  especially  when  we  consider  the  condition  of  the  man  before 
this,  how  kind  and  friendly  he  was  towards  the  pious.  For  never 
was  there  any  of  the  emperors  before  him  so  favourably  and 
benevolently  disposed  toward  them,  not  even  those  who  were 
openly  said  to  be  Christians,  so  plainly  received  them,  with  such 
excessive  civility  and  friendship  in  the  commencement  of  his 
reign.  All  his  house  was  likewise  filled  with  pious  persons,  and 
was,  indeed,  a  congregation  {exxXyjUio)  of  the  Lord.  But  the 
master  and  chief  ruler  of  the  Egyptian  magi  (Macrianus,)  per- 
suaded him  to  abandon  this  course,  exhorting  him  to  persecute 
and  slay  these  pure  and  holy  men,  as  enemies  and  obstacles  to 
their  wicked  and  detestable  incantations.  For  there  were,  and 
still  are,  men  who,  by  their  very  presence,  or  when  seen,  and 
only  breathing  and  speaking,  are  able  to  dissipate  the  artifices  of 
wicked  daemons.  But  he  suggested  to  him  to  study  rites  of  ini- 
tiation, and  abominable  arts  of  sorcery,  to  perform  execrable 
sacrifices,  to  slay  unhappy  infants,  and  to  sacrifice  the  children 
of  wretched  fathers,  and  to  search  the  bowels  of  new-born  babes, 
and  to  mutilate  and  dismember  the  creatures  of  God,  as  if  by 
doing  this  they  should  obtain  great  felicity."  To  this  account  he 
also  subjoins  the  following:  "Macrianus,  therefore, returned  them 
handsome  rewards  for  his  desired  accession  to  the  government, 
who  before  was  generally  called,  from  his  character,  the  empe- 
ror's steward  and  receiver-general,  now  did  nothing  that  could  be 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  279 

pronounced  for  the  public  good,  or  even  reasonable  ;*  but  that 
prophetic  malediction  which  says,  *  Wo  to  those  that  prophesy 
according  to  their  own  hearts,  and  do  not  see  to  the  public  good ;' 
for  neither  did  he  perceive  that  Providence  that  regulates  the 
whole ;  and  neither  did  he  expect  that  judgment  of  him  that  is 
before  all,  and  through  all,  and  over  all.  Hence,  he  became  an 
enemy  to  his  universal  church.  But  he  also  estranged  and  strip- 
ped himself  of  the  mercy  of  God,  and  thus  fled  as  far  as  possible 
from  his  salvation.  In  this,  indeed,  he  really  expressed  the  pe- 
culiarity of  his  name."f  Again,  he  says :  "  Valerian,  indeed, 
was  thus  urged  by  this  man  to  these  measures,  whilst  he  exposed 
himself  to  insults  and  reproaches,  according  to  what  Isaias  has 
said:  'And  these  have  chosen  their  own  ways,  and  their' own 
abominations,  which  their  soul  hath  desired.  And  1  will  choose 
their  derisions,  and  will  repay  them  their  sins.'  But  the  latter 
(viz.  Macrianus,)  anxious  without  any  merit  to  have  the  govern- 
ment, and  yet  unable  to  assume  the  imperial  garb,  with  his  feeble 
body,  appointed  his  two  sons  to  take  upon  them,  as  it  were,  their 
father's  crimes.  For  the  declaration  of  God  respecting  such, 
proved  its  truth,  when  he  said,  '  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children,  to  the  third  and  fourth  generations  of  them 
that  hate  me.'  For  heaping  his  own  wicked  passions,  in  the 
gratification  of  which  he  did  not  succeed,  upon  the  heads  of  his 
ohildren,  he  swept  off  upon  them  his  own  wickedness  and  hatred 
of  God."  And  such  is  the  account  which  Dionysius  has  given 
of  Valerian. 

*  Dionysius  here  puns  upon  the  honourable  title  and  office  that  Macrianus  had 
borne,  as  the  emperor's  faithful  minister,  ss-i  xxS<sK<iuKoya,v,  but  to  which  his  subs^ 
quent  conduct  did  not  correspond.     The  pun  is  lost  in  a  translation. 

■\  Macrianus,  derived  from  the  Greek  ju«xfo;  longyOT  F*''f»t'  at  a  distance;  an- 
other witty  allusion. 

26* 


280  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER   XL 

The  sufferings  of  Dionysius,  and  those  in  Egypt. 

But  as  to  the  persecutions  that  raged  so  violently  under  him, 
and  what  sufferings  he  with  others  endured  for  their  piety  to- 
wards the  Supreme  God,  his  own  words  shall  declare,  which  he 
addressed  to  Germanus,  one  of  the  contemporary  bishops  that 
attempted  to  slander  him.  His  words  are  as  follows :  "  But," 
says  he,  "  I  apprehend  that  as  I  am  forced  to  relate  the  wonder- 
ful providence  of  God  respecting  us,  I  shall  be  liable  to  much 
folly  and  insensibility.  But,  as  it  is  said,  it  is  honourable  to 
conceal  the  secrets  of  the  king,  and  glorious  to  make  manifest 
the  works  of  God,  I  will  face  the  violence  of  Germanus.  J  came 
to  iEmilianus  not  alone,  but  in  company  with  my  fellow-presbyter 
Maximus,  and  the  deacons  Faustus,  Eusebius,  and  Chaeremon,  to- 
gether with  a  certain  one  of  the  brethren  who  had  come  from 
Rome.  ^Emilianus,  however,  did  not  at  first  say  to  me,  hold  no 
assemblies,  as  this  was  superfluous,  and  was  the  last  to  one  who 
was  aiming  at  what  was  the  first  in  importance  ;*  for  he  was  not 
concerned  about  my  collecting  others,  but  that  we  should  not  be 
Christians,  and  from  this  he  commanded  me  to  desist,  thinking,  no 
doubt,  that  if  I  changed,  others  would  follow  my  example.  But  I 
answered  him  not  without  good  reason,  and  without  many  words, 
*  We  must  obey  God  rather  than  man.'  But  I  directly  bore  wit- 
ness, that  I  could  neither  change  worshipping  the  only  true  God 
and  none  other,  nor  ever  cease  to  be  a  Christian.  Upon  this  he 
commanded  us  to  go  away  to  a  neighbouring  village  of  the 
desert,  called  Cephro. 

"  But  hear  the  words  that  were  uttered  by  both  of  us,  as  they 
were  recorded.     Dionysius  and  Faustus,  Maximus,  Marcellus, 

*  The  great  question  with  the  judge  was,  not  whether  those  arraigned  held  meet- 
ings, but  whether  they  were  Christians,  To  have  commenced  with  the  former, 
when  the  latter  was  the  great  object,  would  have  been  a  kind  of  usT.po^  Trf^rt^^v^  that 
abandoned  the  primaiy  for  the  secondary.  Hostility  to  Christianity  as  a  religion, 
was  the  great  incentive  here,  to  which  all  other  acts  were  referred,  as  their  head 
and  fountain. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  281 

and  Chaeremon,  being  arraigned,  iEmilianus,  the  prefect,  said : 
'  I  have  even  personally  reasoned  with  you  on  the  clemency  of 
our  sovereigns,  which  you  have  also  experienced.  For  they 
have  given  you  the  chance  of  saving  yourselves,  if  you  are  dis- 
posed to  turn  to  the  course  of  nature,  and  worship  the  gods  that 
have  preserved  them  in  their  government,  and  to  forget  those 
practices  which  are  so  unnatural  {tcdv  Tta^a  ^vGlv).  What, 
then,  say  ye  to  these  things  1  For  neither  do  I  expect  that  you 
will  be  ungrateful  for  their  kindness,  since  they  would  dispose 
you  to  a  better  cause.'  Dionysius  answered,  'All  the  gods  are 
not  worshipped  by  all,  but  each  party  worships  those  whom  they 
think  to  be  gods.  We,  therefore,  worship  the  one  God  and  Cre- 
ator of  all  things,  and  the  very  same  that  has  committed  the 
government  to  their  most  excellent  and  sacred  majesties.  Vale- 
rian and  Gallienus.  Him  we  worship  and  adore,  and  to  him  we 
incessantly  pray  that  their  reign  may  continue  firm  and  un- 
shaken.' yEmilianus,  the  prefect,  again  replied :  '  But  who 
prevents  you  from  worshipping  this  one  God,  if  he  is  a  god,  to- 
gether with  those  that  are  the  natural  gods  1  For  you  are  com- 
manded to  worship  the  gods,  and  those  gods  which  all  know  to 
be  such.'  Dionysius  answered :  '  We  worship  no  other  one.' 
iEmilianus,  the  prefect,  said,  '  I  perceive  that  you  are  at  the 
same  time  ungrateful,  and  insensible  to  the  clemency  of  our  Ce- 
sars.  Therefore  you  shall  not  remain  in  this  city,  but  you  shall 
be  sent  to  the  parts  of  Lybia,  to  a  place  called  Cephro.  For 
this  place  I  have  selected  according  to  the  orders  of  our  Cesars. 
But  neither  you,  nor  any  others,  shall  in  any  wise  be  permitted, 
either  to  hold  conventions,  or  to  enter  what  yow  call  your  ceme- 
teries.*    But  if  any  one  appear  not  to  have  gone  to  the  place 

•  The  Chiistians  called  their  burial  places  cemeteries,  xoi^iiTupia,  dormitories,  be- 
cause death,  in  the  light  of  the  gospel,  is  a  sleep.  These  dormitories,  as  we  here 
see,  were  frequented  by  the  Christians,  as  peculiarly  calculated  to  cherish  religious 
sentiments,  particularly  if  these  places  had  been  the  depositories  of  martyred  con- 
fessors. It  was  here,  too,  where,  in  the  firm  faith  that  death  is  but  a  sleep,  they 
could  hold  a  kind  of  communion  with  departed  virtue,  and  find  their  own  strength- 
ened by  it.  Well  may  Christianity  be  pronounced  the  only  true  philosophy,  when 
she  arrays  our  greatest  terrors  in  such  a  light. 

2N 


282  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

which  I  have  commanded,  or  if  he  shall  be  found  in  any  assembly, 
he  will  do  it  at  his  peril.  For  the  necessary  punishment  will  not 
fail.  Remove,  therefore,  whither  ye  are  commanded.'  Thus 
he  compelled  me,  sick  as  I  was,  nor  did  he  grant  me  a  day's  re- 
spite. What  leisure,  then,  had  I  to  hold  assemblies,  or  not  to 
hold  them  ?" 

After  other  matters,  he  says  again,  "  But  neither  did  we  keep 
aloof  from  assembhng  ourselves  by  divine  assistance;  but  so 
much  the  more  diligently  did  I  gather  those  that  were  in  the 
city,  as  if  I  were  in  their  midst :  absent,  indeed,  in  the  body,  as 
I  said,  but  present  in  spirit.  But  in  Cephro  a  large  congregation 
collected  with  us,  partly  of  the  brethren  that  accompanied  us 
from  the  city,  partly  of  those  that  joined  us  from  Egypt ;  and 
thus  God  opened  a  door  for  the  word  likewise  there.  And  at 
first,  indeed,  we  were  persecuted,  we  were  stoned  ;  but,  at  last, 
not  a  few  of  the  heathen,  abandoning  the  idols,  turned  to  God, 
for  the  word  was  then  first  sown  among  them,  as  they  had  never 
before  heard  it.  And  thus,  as  if  God  had  conducted  us  for  this 
cause  to  them,  after  we  had  fulfilled  this  ministry,  we  were  again 
transferred  to  another  part.  For  TEmilianus  designed  to  trans- 
port us,  as  it  seemed,  to  places  more  rough,  and  more  replete 
with  Libyan  horrors  (more  Libyan-like),  and  he  commanded 
those  in  the  Mareotic  district  every  where  to  collect,  appointing 
them  separate  villages  throughout  the  country.  But  our  party, 
together  with  those  that  should  be  first  taken,  he  commanded  to 
be  left  on  the  way.  For,  no  doubt,  it  was  among  his  plans  and 
preparations,  that  whenever  he  wished  to  seize  us  he  might  easily 
take  us  captive.  But  when  I  was  first  ordered  to  go  away  to 
Cephro,  though  I  knew  not  the  place  where  it  was,  having 
scarcely  even  heard  the  name  before,  yet  I  nevertheless  went 
away  cheerfully  and  calmly.  But  when  it  was  told  me  to  re- 
move to  the  parts  of  Colluthion,  those  present  know  how  I  was 
affected.  For  here  I  shall  accuse  myself  At  first,  indeed,  I 
was  afllicted,  and  bore  it  hard.  For  though  these  places  happened 
to  be  more  known  and  familiar  to  me,  yet  they  said  that  it  was 
a  region  destitute  of  brethren  and  good  men,  and  exposed  to  the 
insolence  of  travellers,  and  the  in  lursions  of  robbers.     But  1  re- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  283 

ceived  comfort  from  the  brethren,  who  reminded  me  that  it  was 
nearer  to  the  city.  Cephro,  indeed,  brought  us  a  great  number 
of  brethren  promiscuously  from  Egypt,  so  that  we  were  able  to 
spread  the  church  farther ;  but  as  the  city  was  nearer  there,  we 
should  more  frequently  enjoy  the  sight  of  those  that  were  really 
beloved  and  most  dear  to  us.  For  they  would  come,  and  would 
tarry,  and  as  if  in  the  more  remote  suburbs,  there  would  be  still 
meetings  in  part.     And  so  it  was." 

After  these,  and  other  remarks,  he  proceeds  to  tell  what  hap- 
pened to  him  again  :  "  Germanus,  indeed,  may  pride  himself  for 
many  confessions;  he  may  have  much  to  say  of  what  happened 
to  him :  he  may,  as  well  as  we,  speak  of  the  great  number  of 
sentences  of  condemnation,  confiscations,  proscriptions,  spoliations 
of  goods ;  loss  of  dignities ;  contempt  of  worldly  honour ;  con- 
tempt of  praise  from  the  prefects  or  from  counsellors,  and  the 
endurance  of  the  opposite  threats  of  outcries ;  of  dangers  of  per- 
secutions ;  of  exile  ;  of  great  trouble  and  various  kinds  of  afflic- 
tion, such  as  happened  to  me  under  Decius  and  Sabinus,  such  as 
I  have  suffered  until  the  present  persecution  of  ^Emilianus.  But 
where  in  the  world  was  Germanus  ?  What  is  said  of  him  ? 
But  I  will  abstain  from  the  great  folly  into  which  I  have  fallen 
on  account  of  Germanus.  And  hence,  also,  I  shall  dismiss  giving 
a  particular  account  of  what  happened  to  the  brethren,  who 
already  know  the  facts." 

The  same  writer,  also,  in  the  epistle  toDomitius  and  Didymus, 
again  makes  mention  of  some  particulars,  in  reference  to  the  per- 
secution, as  follows :  "  But  it  is  superfluous  for  me  to  recount  to 
you  our  brethren  by  name,  as  they  are  both  numerous  and  un- 
known to  you.  But  you  must  know  that  they  are  men  and 
women,  young  and  old,  young  virgins  and  aged  matrons,  soldiers 
and  private  men,  every  class  and  every  age,  some  that  obtained 
the  crown  of  victory  under  stripes  and  in  the  flames,  some  by  the 
edge  of  the  sword.  For  many,  however,  the  lapse  of  a  very  long 
time  was  not  sufficient  to  appear  accep<^able  to  God,  as  indeed  it 
has  not  appeared  to  me  to  the  present  time.  Therefore,  I  have 
been  reserved  for  a  time  which  he  knows  most  suitable,  who  has 
said,  '  In  the  accepted  time  I  have  heard  thee,  and  in  the  day  of 


284  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

salvation  I  have  assisted  thee.'  But  since  you  have  inquired,  and 
wish  to  be  informed  of  all  concerning  us,  you  have  fully  heard 
how  we  fare :  how  we  were  led  away  as  prisoners  by  the  cen- 
turion and  magistrates,  and  the  soldiers  and  officers  with  them, 
myself  and  Caius,  Faustus,  Peter,  Paul,  when  a  certain  party 
came  from  Mareotis  and  forcibly  dragged  us  away,  we  following 
them  not  of  our  own  accord,  but  forced.  But  now  Caius  and 
Peter,  with  myself,  solitary  and  deprived  of  the  rest  of  our  bre- 
thren, are  shut  up  in  a  wild  and  desert  place  of  Libya,  three  days' 
journey  distant  from  Paraetonium." 

After  some  further  remarks,  he  proceeds :  "  But  in  the  city 
some  concealed  themselves,  secretly  visiting  the  brethren ;  pres- 
byters Maximinus,  Dioscorus,  Demetrius,  and  Lucius.  For 
Faustinus  and  Aquila,  who  are  more  prominent  in  the  world,  are 
wandering  about  in  Egypt.  But  of  those  that  died  of  the  sick- 
ness, the  surviving  deacons  are  Faustus,  Eusebius,  Chaeremon. 
Eusebius,  who  was  strengthened  by  the  Lord  from  the  beginning, 
and  who  was  well  qualified  to  fulfil  the  arduous  and  necessary 
duties  to  those  confessors  that  were  in  prison,  and  to  perform  the 
dangerous  office  of  burying  those  perfected  and  blessed  men  who 
suffered  martyrdom.  For,  to  the  present  day,  the  governor  does 
not  cease  killing  some,  as  I  before  said,  in  a  most  cruel  manner, 
whenever  they  are  arraigned,  torturing  others  with  scourging, 
wasting  others  with  imprisonment  and  bonds,  and  commanding 
that  no  one  shall  go  nigh  them,  and  examining  whether  any, 
perhaps,  is  seen  to  do  so.  And  yet  God,  by  the  alacrity  and 
kindness  of  the  brethren,  has  afforded  some  relief  to  the  afflicted.' 
Such  is  the  statement  of  Dionysius  in  this  epistle. 

But  it  should  be  observed,  that  this  Eusebius,  whom  he  called 
a  deacon,  was  not  long  after  appointed  bishop  of  Laodicea,  in 
Syria.  But  Maximus,  whom  he  called  a  presbyter,  at  that  time 
succeeded  Dionysius  as  bishop  of  the  church  at  Alexandria.  But 
Faustus,  who  was  at  that  time  greatly  distinguished  for  his  con- 
fession, being  reserved  until  the  persecution  of  our  times,  in  a 
very  advanced  age,  and  full  of  days,  was  made  perfect  as  a  mar- 
tyr, and  was  beheaded.  Such,  however,  were  the  events  that 
happened  to  Dionysius  at  this  time. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  285 

CHAPTER  XIL 

The  martyrs  at  Cesarea  of  Palestine. 

In  the  persecution  of  Valerian,  mentioned  above,  three  men 
of  Cesarea  in  Palestine,  who  shone  gloriously  in  their  confession  of 
Christ,  were  honoured  with  divine  martyrdom  by  becoming  the 
food  of  wild  beasts.  Of  these,  one  was  called  Priscus,  another 
Malchus,  the  third  was  named  Alexander.  These,  it  is  said, 
lived  at  first  in  the  country,  pretending  to  be  careless  and  indif- 
ferent ;  but  when  occasion  presented  itself  from  heaven  to  them, 
already  burning  with  desire  to  obtain  the  prize,  they  would  then 
cease,  with  the  view  that  they  might  not  be  too  forward  in  seiz- 
ing the  martyr's  crown.  With  these  purposes,  therefore,  they 
hasted  to  Cesarea,  and  advanced  to  the  judge,  and  obtained  the 
sentence  mentioned.  It  is  also  said,  that  a  certain  female  en- 
dured a  similar  conflict  in  the  same  persecution  and  city,  but 
who  is  also  said  to  have  been  of  the  sect  of  Marcion. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

T?ie  peace  after  Gallienus. 


But  as  it  was  not  long  before  Valerian  was  taken  captive,  and 
reduced  to  slavery  by  the  barbarians,  his  son  Gallienus,  obtain- 
ing the  sole  command,  was  disposed  to  use  more  clemency  in  the 
exercise  of  his  power.  He,  therefore,  immediately  restrained 
the  persecution  against  us,  by  sending  edicts,  in  which  he  com- 
manded that  the  ministers  of  the  word  might  perform  the  custo- 
mary duties  of  their  oflice  with  freedom,  the  copy  of  which  was 
as  follows  :  *'  The  emperor  Cesar,  Publius,  Licinius,  Gallienus, 
Pius,  Felix,  Augustus,  to  Dionysius,  Pinna,  Demetrius  and  the 
other  bishops.  The  benefit  of  the  privilege  granted  by  me,  I 
have  ordered  to  be  issued  throughout  the  whole  world,  that  all 
may  depart  from  their  religious  retreats ;  and  therefore  you  also 


286  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY'. 

may  make  use  of  this  copy  of  my  edict,  that  no  one  may  molest 
you.  And  this  liberty  indeed,  which  you  are  now  permitted  to 
have,  has  been  long  since  granted  by  me.  Aurelius  Cyrenius, 
therefore,  who  has  the  chief  administration  of  affairs,  will  ob- 
serve the  copy  here  given  by  me."  This,  that  it  may  be  the  bet- 
ter understood,  we  have  here  presented  to  our  readers,  in  a 
translation  from  the  Latin  tongue.  There  is  also  another  ordi- 
nance from  him,  which  he  addressed  to  other  bishops,  in  which 
he  grants  permission  to  recover  what  are  called  the  cemeteries. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  bishops  that  Jiourished  at  this  time. 

At  this  time  the  episcopate  in  the  Roman  church  was  yet 
held  by  Xystus;  but  in  the  church  of  Anlioch,  after  Fabius,by 
Demetrianus  ;  of  Cesarea  in  Cappadocia  by  Firmilianus  ;  of  the 
churches  in  Pontus,  by  Gregory,  and  his  brother  Athenodorus, 
both  of  them  familiar  friends  of  Origen.  At  Cesarea,  however, 
of  Palestine,  after  the  death  of  Theoctistus,  the  episcopal  office 
was  conferred  on  Domnus,  and  he  not  surviving  long,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Theotecnus  our  contemporary.  He  was  also  of  the 
school  of  Origen,  but  in  Jerusalam,  after  the  decease  of  Maza- 
banus,  Hymenaeus  followed  as  his  successor  in  the  episcopal  seat, 
the  same  that  has  obtained  much  celebrity  in  our  times  for  many 
years. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  martyrdojn  of  Marinus  at  Cesarea. 

About  this  time,  as  peace  was  every  where  restored  to  the 
churches,  Marinus  of  Cesarea  in  Palestine,  who  was  one  of  the 
army,  distinguished  for  his  military  honours,  and  illustrious  for 
his  family  and  wealth,  was  beheaded  for  his  confession  of  Christ, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  28? 

on  the  following  account :  "  There  is  a  certain  honour  among 
the  Romans,  called  the  vine,  which  they  who  obtain  arc  said  to 
be  centurions.  A  place  becoming  vacant,  Marinus,  by  the  order 
of  succession,  was  called  to  this  promotion ;  but  when  he  Vvas  on 
the  point  of  obtaining  this,  however,  another  one  advancing  to 
the  tribunal  began  to  make  opposition,  by  saying  that  according 
to  the  ancient  institutions  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  share  in 
the  Roman  honours,  as  he  was  a  Christian,  and  refused  to  sacri- 
fice to  the  emperors  ;  but  that  the  office  devolved  on  him.  The 
judge,  whose  name  was  Achasus,  roused  at  this,  first  began 
to  ask  what  the  opinions  of  Marinus  were ;  and  when  he  saw 
him  constantly  affirming  that  he  was  a  Christian,  he  granted  him 
three  hours  for  reflection.  But  as  soon  as  he  came  out  of  the 
praetorium,  or  judgment  hall,  Theotecnus,  the  bishop  of  the  place, 
coming  to  him,  drew  him  aside  in  conversation,  and  taking  him 
by  the  hand,  conducted  him  to  the  church ;  and  having  placed 
him  witliin  by  the  altar,  he  raised  his  cloak  a  little,  and  pointing 
to  the  sword  that  was  attached  to  his  side,  at  the  same  time  pre- 
senting before  him  the  book  of  the  holy  gc^spels,  told  him  to 
choose  either  of  the  two  according  to  his  wish.  Without  hesita- 
tion he  extended  his  hand  and  took  the  book.  "  Hold  fast,  then, 
hold  fast  to  God,"  said  Theotecnus,  "  and  strengthened  by  him, 
mayest  thou  obtain  what  thou  hast  chosen — go  in  peace."  Im- 
mediately upon  his  return  from  thence,  a  crier  began  to  proclaim 
before  the  praetorium,  for  the  appointed  time  had  already  passed 
away ;  and  being  thus  arraigned,  after  exhibiting  a  still  greater 
ardour  in  his  faith,  he  was  forthwith  led  away  as  he  was,  and 
made  perfect  by  martyrdom. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Some  account  of  Astyriiis. 


Mention  is  also  made  in  these  t'mfs  of  the  pious  confidence 
of  Astyrius,  a  man  who  vas  a  Ronnan  of  senatorial  rank,  m  grea* 


27 


288  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

favour  with  the  emperors,  and  well  known  to  all  for  his  noble 
birth  and  his  wealth.  As  he  was  present  at  the  death  of  the 
abovementioned  martyr ;  taking  up  the  corpse,  he  bore  him  on 
his  shoulder  in  a  splendid  and  costly  dress,  and  covering  it  in  a 
magnificent  manner,  committed  it  to  a  decent  burial.  Many 
other  facts  are  stated  of  the  man  by  his  friends,  who  have  lived 
to  the  present  times. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  miracles  of  our  Saviour  at  Paneas. 

Among  these  there  was  the  following  remarkable  occurrence. 
At  Cesarea  Philippi,  which  is  called  Paneas  by  the  Phoenicians, 
they  say  there  are  springs  that  are  shown  there,  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  called  Panius,  from  which  the  Jordan  rises ;  and 
that  on  a  certain  festival  day  there  was  usually  a  victim  thrown 
into  these,  and  that  this,  by  the  power  of  the  daemon,  in  some 
wonderful  manner  entirely  disappeared.  The  thing  was  a  fa- 
mous wonder  to  all  that  were  there  to  see  it.  Astyrius  happen- 
ing to  be  once  present  at  these  rites,  and  seeing  the  multitude 
astonished  at  the  aifair,  pitied  their  delusion.  Then  raising  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  he  implored  the  God  over  all  through  Christ,  to 
refute  this  seducing  daemon,  and  to  restrain  the  delusion  of  the 
people.  As  soon  as  he  prayed,  it  is  said  that  the  victim  floated 
on  the  stream,  and  that  thus  this  miracle  vanished,  no  wonder 
ever  more  occurring  in  this  place. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  statue  erectedhythe  woman  having  an  hemorrhage. 

But  as  we  have  mentioned  this  city,  I  do  not  think  it  right  to 
pass  by  a  narrative  that  also  deserves  to  be  recorded  for  posterity. 
They  say  that  the  woman  who  had  an  issue  of  blood,  mentioned 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  289 

by  the  evangelists,  and  who  obtained  dehverance  from  her  afflic- 
tion by  our  Saviour,  was  a  native  of  this  place,  and  tliat  her 
house  is  shown  in  the  city,  and  the  wonderful  monuments  of  our 
Saviour's  benefit  to  her  are  still  remaining.  At  the  gates  of  her 
house,  on  an  elevated  stone,  stands  a  brazen  image  of  a  woman 
on  her  bended  knee,  with  her  hands  stretched  out  before  her 
like  one  entreating.  Opposite  to  this  there  is  another  image  of  a 
man,  erect,  of  the  same  materials,  decently  clad  in  a  mantle  (di- 
plois,)  and  stretching  out  his  hand  to  the  woman.  Before  her 
feet,  and  on  the  same  pedestal,  there  is  a  certain  strange  plant 
growing,  which  rising  as  high  as  the  hem  of  the  brazen  garment, 
is  a  kind  of  antidote  to  all  kinds  of  diseases.  This  statue,  they 
say,  is  a  statue  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  it  has  femained  even  until 
our  times ;  so  that  we  ourselves  saw  it  whilst  tarrying  in  that 
city.  Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  those  of  the  Gentiles  who 
were  anciently  benefited  by  our  Saviour,  should  have  done  these 
things.  Since  we  have  also  seen  representations  of  the  apostles 
Peter  and  Paul,  and  of  Christ  himself,  still  preserved  in  paintings ; 
as  it  is  probable  that,  according  to  a  practice  among  the  Gentiles, 
the  ancients  were  accustomed  to  pay  this  kind  of  honour  indis- 
criminately to  those  who  were  as  saviours  or  dehverers  to  them. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  episcopal  seat  of  James. 


James  being  the  first  that  received  the  dignity  of  the  episcopate 
at  Jerusalem,  from  our  Saviour  himself,  as  the  sacred  Scriptures 
show  that  he  was  generally  called  the  brother  of  Christ ;  this  see, 
which  has  been  preserved  until  the  present  times,  has  ever  been 
held  in  veneration  by  the  brethren  that  have  followed  in  the  suc- 
cession there,  in  which  they  have  sufficiently  shown  what  rever- 
ence both  the  ancients  and  those  of  our  own  times  exhibited,  and 
still  exhibit,  towards  holy  men  on  account  of  their  piety.  But 
enough  of  this. 

20 


290  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

The  epistles  of  Dionysius,  on  festivals,  in  ichich  he  gives  the 
canon  on  the  Passover. 

Besides  these  epistles,  the  same  Dionysius,  about  this  time 
also  composed  others,  called  his  Festival  Epistles,  in  which  he 
discourses  much  in  praise  of  the  festival  of  the  Passover.  One  of 
these  he  addressed  to  Flavius,  another  to  Domitius  and  Didymus, 
in  which  also  he  gives  the  canon  for  eight  years,  showing  that  it 
is  not  proper  to  observe  the  paschal  festival  before  the  vernal 
equinox  was  past.  « Beside  these,  he  composed  another  epistle, 
addressed  to  his  compresbyters  at  Alexandria.  Also,  to  several 
others,  and  these  during  the  prevalence  of  the  persecution. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

The  events  that  occurred  at  Alexandria. 

Peace  having  been  scarcely  established,  he  returned,  indeed, 
to  Alexandria ;  but  as  sedition  and  war  again  broke  out,  so  that 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  superintend  all  the  brethren  then 
divided  into  different  parties,  he  again  addresses  them  by  letter 
at  the  passover,  as  if  he  were  still  an  exile  from  Alexandria.  He 
also  wrote,  after  this,  another  paschal  letter  to  Hierax,  a  bishop 
of  Egypt,  in  which  he  makes  mention  of  the  sedition  then  exist- 
ing at  Alexandria,  as  follows :  "  But  what  cause  of  wonder  is 
there,  if  it  be  difficult  for  me  also  to  address  epistles  to  those 
that  are  so  very  remote,  when  I  am  at  a  loss  to  consult  for  my 
own  life,  or  to  reason  with  myself.  For,  indeed,  I  have  great 
need  to  send  epistolary  addresses  to  those  who  are  as  my  own 
bowels,  my  associates  and  dearest  brethren  and  members  of  the 
same  church.  But  how  I  shall  send  these  I  cannot  devise.  For  it 
would  be  more  easy  for  any  one,  I  would  not  say  to  go  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  province,  but  even  to  travel  from  east  to  west,  than 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  291 

to  go  from  Alexandria  to  Alexandria  itself.  For  the  very  heart 
of  the  city  is  more  desolate  and  impassable  than  that  vast  and 
trackless  desert  which  the  Israelites  traversed  in  two  generations, 
and  our  smooth  and  tranquil  harbours  have  become  like  that 
sea  which  opened  and  arose  like  walls  on  both  sides,  enabled 
them  to  drive  through,  and  in  whose  highway  the  Egyptians  were 
overwhelmed.  For  often  they  appear  like  the  Red  Sea,  from  the 
frequent  slaughters  committed  in  them;  but  the  river  which 
washes  the  city,  has  sometimes  appeared  more  dry  than  the 
parched  desert,  and  more  exhausting  than  that  in  which  Israel 
was  so  overcome  with  thirst  on  their  journey  that  they  exclaimed 
against  Moses,  and  the  water  flowed  for  them  from  the  broken 
rock,  by  the  power  of  Him  who  alone  doeth  wondrous  worlcs. 
Sometimes,  also,  it  has  so  overflowed,  that  it  has  inundated  all 
the  country  round ;  the  roads  and  the  fields  seeming  to  threaten 
that  flood  of  waters  which  happened  in  the  days  of  Noah.  It 
also  flows  always  polluted  with  blood  and  slaughter,  and  the  con-, 
stant  drowning  of  men,  such  as  it  formerly  was,  when,  before 
Pharaoh,  it  was  changed  by  Moses  into  blood  and  putrid  matter. 
And  what  other  purification  could  be  applied  to  water  which 
itself  purifies  all  ?  Could  that  vast  and  impassable  ocean  ever 
wash  away  this  bitter  sea  ?  or  could  that  great  river,  itself,  which 
flowed  from  Eden,  though  it  poured  the  four  heads  into  which  it 
was  divided,  into  one  Gihon,  wash  away  this  filth  1  When  will 
this  air,  corrupted  as  it  is  by  the  noxious  exhalations  every  where 
rising,  become'  pure  and  serene  ?  For  there  are  such  vapours 
from  the  earth,  and  such  storms  from  the  sea-breezes,  from  the 
rivers  and  mists  coming  from  the  harbours,  that  make  it  appear 
as  if  we  should  have  for  dew,  the  gore  of  these  dead  bodies  that 
are  putrifying  in  all  the  elements  around  us. 

"  Then,  and  notwithstanding  all  this,  men  wonder,  and  arc  at 
a  loss  to  know  whence  come  the  constant  plagues;  whence 
these  malignant  diseases ;  whence  those  variegated  infections ; 
whence  all  that  various  and  immense  destruction  of  human  lives. 
Wherefore  it  is,  that  this  mighty  city  no  longer  cherishes  within 
it  such  a  number  of  inhabitants,  from  speechless  children  to  the 
aged  and  decrepid,  as  it  formerly  had  of  those  whom  it  could 
27* 


292  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

pronounce  firm  and  vigorous  in  years.  But  those  of  forty  years 
and  up  to  seventy,  were  so  much  the  more  numerous  then,  that 
their  number  cannot  now  be  made  up,  if  even  those  from  fourteen 
to  eighty  were  inserted  and  enrolled  among  the  receivers  of  the 
public  grain.  And  those  who  in  appearance  are  but  the  youngest, 
are  now  as  of  an  age  with  those  formerly  the  oldest.  And  yet, 
though  they  constantly  see  the  human  race  diminishing,  and  con- 
stantly wasting  away,  in  the  very  midst  of  this  increasing  de- 
struction, and  this  annihilation,  they  are  not  alarmed." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  pestilence  which  then  prevailed. 

The  pestilence,  after  these  things,  succeeding  the  war,  and  the 
festival  being  at  hand,  he  again  addresses  the  brethren  in  epistles; 
in  which  he  shows  the  great  calamities  attending  this  affliction, 
as  follows :  "  To  other  men,  indeed,  the  present  would  not  ap- 
pear a  fit  season  for  a  festival,  and  neither  is  this,  nor  any  other 
time  a  festival  for  them,  not  to  speak  of  sorrowful  times,  but  not 
even  that  which  a  cheerful  person  might  especially  deem  such. 
But  now  all  things  are  filled  with  tears,  all  are  mourning,  and  by 
reason  of  the  multitudes  already  dead,  and  still  dying,  groans  are 
daily  resounding  throughout  the  city.  For  as  it  is  written  re- 
specting the  first  born  of  Egypt,  thus  now,  also,  a  great  lament- 
ation has  arisen,  for  there  is  not  a  house  in  which  there  is  not 
one  dead.  And  I  wish,  indeed,  this  were  all.  Many,  indeed, 
and  horrible  calamities  have  preceded  this.  First,  indeed,  they 
drive  us  away,  and  solitary  and  in  exile,  and  persecuted  and  put 
to  death  by  all,  we  still  celebrated  the  festival ;  and  every  place, 
marked  by  some  particular  affliction,  was  still  a  spot  distinguished 
by  our  solemnities ;  the  open  field,  the  desert,  the  ship,  the  inn, 
the  prison.  But  the  most  joyous  festival  of  all  was  celebrated  by 
those  perfect  martyrs  who  are  now  feasting  in  the  heavens. 

"  After  this,  war  and  famine  succeeded,  which  indeed  we  en^ 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  293 

dured  with  the  heathen,  but  bore  alone  those  miseries  with  which 
they  afflicted  us,  whilst  we  also  experienced  the  etifects  of  those 
which  they  inflicted,  and  sutlered  from  one  another.  And  again 
we  rejoiced  in  the  peace  of  Christ,  which  he  gave  to  us  alone, 
and  when  both  we  and  they  obtained  a  very  short  respite,  then 
we  were  assailed  by  this  pestilence.  A  calanriity  more  dreadful 
to  them  than  any  dread,  and  more  afllictive  that  any  affliction, 
and  which  as  one  of  their  own  historians  has  said,  was  of  itself 
alone  beyond  all  hope.  To  us,  however,  it  did  not  wear  this 
character,  but  no  less  than  other  events  it  was  a  school  for  ex- 
ercise and  probation.  For  neither  did  it  keep  aloof  from  us,  al- 
though it  assailed  the  heathen  most."  To  this  he  afterwards  adds : 
"Indeed,  the  most  of  our  brethren,  by  their  exceeding  great  love 
and  brotherly  affection,  not  sparing  themselves,  and  adhering  to 
one  another,  were  constantly  superintending  the  sick,  ministering 
to  their  wants  without  fear  and  without  cessation,  and  healing 
them  in  Christ,  have  departed  most  sweetly  with  them."  Though 
filled  with  the  disease  from  others,  and  taking  it  from  their  neigh- 
bours, they  voluntarily,  by  exsuction,  extracted  their  pains. 
Many  also,  who  had  healed  and  strengthened  others,  themselves 
died,  transferring  their  death  upon  themselves,  and  exemplifying 
in  fact,  that  trite  expression  which  seemed  before  only  a  form  of 
politeness,  or  an  empty  compliment ;  they  were  in  fact,  in  their 
death,  the  oflTscouring  of  all.  {nept-^^a  TtavruiV.)  The  best  of 
our  brethren,  indeed,  have  departed  this  life  in  this  v>'ay,  some  in- 
deed presbyters,  some  deacons,  and  of  the  people  those  that  were 
exceedingly  commended.  So  that  this  very  form  of  death,  with 
the  piety  and  ardent  faith  which  attended  it,  appeared  to  be  but 
little  inferior  to  martyrdom  itself.  They  took  up  the  bodies  of 
the  saints  with  their  open  hands  and  on  their  bosoms,  cleaned  their 
eyes  and  closed  their  mouths,  carried  them  on  their  shoulders,  and 
composed  their  limbs,  embraced,  clung  to  them,  and  prepared 
them  decently  with  washing  and  garments,  and  ere  long  they  them- 
selves shared  in  receiving  the  same  offices.  Those  that  survived 
always  following  those  before  them.  Among  the  heathen  it  was 
the  direct  reverse.  They  both  repelled  those  who  began  to  be 
sick,  and  avoided  their  dearest  friends.     They  would  cast  them 


294  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

out  into  the  roads  half  dead,  or  throw  them  when  dead  without 
burial,  shunning  any  communication  and  participation  in  death, 
which  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  by  every  precaution  and  care." 
After  this  epistle,  when  the  city  was  at  peace,  he  addressed 
anotiier  paschal  epistle  to  the  brethren  in  Egypt,  and  wrote 
many  others  besides.  There  is  one  of  his  extant.  On  the  Sab- 
bath, another  On  Exercise.  He  also  addressed  one  to  Hermam- 
mon,  and  to  the  brethren  in  Egypt.  Many  other  facts,  after  de- 
scribing the  wickedness  of  Decius  and  his  successors,  he  states, 
and  also  mentions  the  peace  of  Gallienus. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  reign  of  Gallienus. 


But  it  is  best  to  hear  his  own  words,  as  follows :  "  He  indeed, 
viz.,  Macrianus,  having  betrayed  the  one,  and  waged  war  with 
the  other  emperor,  suddenly  perished  with  liis  whole  family.  But 
Gallienus  was  proclaimed  and  universally  acknowledged  emperor, 
an  emperor  at  orice  new  and  old,  having  been  before  them,  and 
now  surviving  them.  For  as  it  is  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
Those  things  that  were  from  the  first,  lo  they  have  come,  and 
those  are  new  which. shall  now  arise.  As  the  cloud  which  enters 
the  sun's  rays,  and  for  a  little  obscures  it  by  its  shadow  and  ap- 
pears in  its  place,  when  the  cloud  has  passed  by,  or  is  dissipated, 
the  sun  which  had  arisen  before  seems  to  rise  again.  Thus 
Macrianus,  who  had  established  himself,  and  aspired  higher,  to 
the  very  power  of  Gallienus,  himself  is  now  no  more,  because 
he  never  was;  but  the  latter  is  just  as  he  was,  and  his  govern- 
ment as  if  it  had  lost  Ihe  feebleness  of  age,  and  had  become  puri- 
fied of  its  former  filth,  now  arose  and  assumed  a  more  flourishing 
aspect.  And  it  is  now  seen  and  heard  at  a  greater  distance,  and 
expanded  to  every  part."  After  this  he  also  indicates  the  time 
when  he  wrote  this.  "  And  it  occurs  to  me  again,  to  survey  the 
days  of  our  emperor's  reign.  For  I  see,  indeed,  that  those  most 
impious  men,  once  honoured,  and  famous,  ere  long  became  with- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  295 

out  a  name.  But  the  more  lioly  and  pious  emperor,  surviving 
the  seventh  year,  is  now  in  the  ninth,  in  which  we  are  about  to 
celebrate  the  festival." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

OfJVepos,  and  his  schism. 


Besides  these,  there  are  two  works  of  his  on  the  Promises; 
the  occasion  of  wliich  was  Nepos  a  bishop  in  Egypt.  He  taught, 
that  the  promises  given  to  holy  men  in  the  Scriptures,  should 
be  understood  more  as  the  Jews  understood  them,  and  supposed 
that  there  would  be  a  certain  millennium  of  sensual  luxury  on  this 
earth.  Thinking,  therefore,  that  he  could  establish  his  own 
opinion  by  the  Revelation  of  John,  he  composed  a  book  on  this 
subject,  with  the  title.  Refutation  of  the  Allegorists.  This,  there- 
fore, was  warmly  opposed  by  Dionysius,  in  his  work  on  the  Pro- 
mises. In  the  former,  indeed,  he  gives  his  own  opinion  on  the 
subject;  in  the  other  he  enters  into  a  discussion  on  the  Revelation 
of  John,  where,  in  the  introduction,  he  makes  mention  of  Nepos, 
as  follows :  "■  But  they  produce  a  certain  work  of  Nepos,  upon 
which  they  lay  great  stress,  as  if  he  advanced  things  that  are 
irrefragable,  when  he  asserts  that  there  will  be  an  earthly 
reign  of  Christ.  In  many  other  respects  T  accord  with  and 
greatly  love  Nepos,  both  on  account  of  his  faith  and  industry, 
and  his  great  study  in  the  Scriptures ;  as  also  for  his  great  atten- 
tion to  psalmody,  by  which  many  are  still  delighted.  I  greatly 
reverence  the  man  also,  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  departedi 
this  life.  But  the  truth  is  to  be  loved  and  honoured  before  all: 
It  is  just,  indeed,  that  we  should  applaud  and  approve  whatever 
is  said  aright,  but  it  is  also  a  duty  to  examine  and  correct  what- 
ever may  not  appear  to  be  written  with  sufficient  soundness.  If,  in- 
deed, he  were  present,  and  were  advancing  his  sentiments  orally, 
it  would  be  sufficient  to  discuss  the  subject  without  writing,  and* 
to  commence  and  confirm  the  opponents  by  question  and  answer. 
But  as  the  work  is  published,  and  as  it  appears  to  some,  is  calcu- 


296  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

la  ted  to  convince,  and  there  are  some  teachers  who  say  that 
the  law  and  prophets  are  of  no  value,  and  who  give  up  follow- 
ing the  gospels,  and  who  depreciate  the  epistles  of  the  apostles, 
and  wlio  at  the  same  time  announced  the  doctrine  of  this  work 
as  a  great  and  hidden  mystery,  and  who  also  do  not  allow  that 
our  brethren  have  any  sublime  and  great  conception,  either  of 
the  glorious  and  truly  divine  appearance  of  our  Lord,  nor  of  our 
own  resurrection,  and  our  being  gathered,  and  assimilated  to 
him ;  but  persuade  them  to  expect  what  is  little  and  perishable, 
and  such  a  state  of  things  as  now  exists  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
It  becomes,  therefore,  necessary  for  us  also,  to  reason  with  our 
brother  Nepos  as  if  he  were  present."  To  these  he  adds,  after 
other  remarks :  "  When  I  was  at  Arsinoe,  where,  as  you  know 
long  since,  this  doctrine  was  afloat,  so  that  schisms  and  aposta- 
cies  of  whole  churches  followed,  after  I  had  called  the  pres- 
byters and  teachers  of  the  brethren  in  the  villages,  when  those 
brethren  had  come  who  wished  to  be  present,  I  exhorted  them 
to  examine  the  doctrine  publicly.  When  they  had  produced  this 
book  as  a  kind  of  armour  and  impregnable  fortress,  I  sat  with 
them  for  three  days,  from  morning  till  evening,  attempting  to  re- 
fute what  it  contained.  Then,  also,  I  was  greatly  pleased  to  ob- 
serve the  constancy,  the  sincerity,  the  docility,  and  intelligence 
of  the  brethren,  as  we  proceeded  to  advance  in  order,  and  the 
moderation  of  our  questions  and  doubts  and  mutual  concessions. 
For  we  carefully  and  studiously  avoided,  in  every  possible  way, 
insisting  upon  those  opinions  which  were  once  adopted  by  us, 
though  they  might  appear  to  be  correct.  Nor  did  we  attempt 
to  evade  objections,  but  endeavoured  as  far  as  possible  to  keep 
to  our  subject,  and  to  confirm  these.  Nor  ashamed  if  reason 
prevailed,  to  change  opinions,  and  to  acknowledge  the  truth; 
but  rather  received  with  a  good  conscience  and  sincerity,  and 
with  single  hearts,  before  God,  whatever  was  established  by 
the  proofs  and  doctrines  of  the  holy  Scriptures.  At  length  O)- 
racio,  who  was  the  founder  and  leader  of  this  doctrine,  in  the 
hearing  of  all  the  brethren  present,  confessed  and  avowed  to  us, 
that  he  would  no  longer  adhere  to  it,  nor  discuss  it,  that  he  would 
neither  mention  nor  teach  it,  as  he  had  been  fully  convinced  by 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  297 

the  opposite  arguments.  The  other  brethren  present  rejoiced 
also  at  this  conference,  and  at  the  conciliatory  spirit  and  unani 
mity  exhibited  by  all." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  apocalypse  of  John. 


After  this,  he  proceeds  further  to  speak  of  the  Revelation  of 
John,  as  follows :  "  Some,  indeed,  before  us,  have  set  aside,  and 
have  attempted  to  refute  the  whole  book,  criticising  every  chapter, 
and  pronouncing  it  without  sense  and  without  reason.  They 
say  that  it  has  a  false  title,  for  it  is  not  of  John.  Nay,  that  it  is 
not  even  a  revelation,  as  it  is  covered  with  such  a  dense  and  thick 
veil  of  ignorance,  that  not  one  of  the  apostles,  and  not  one  of  the 
holy  men,  or  those  of  the  church  could  be  its  author.  But  that 
Cerinthus,  the  founder  of  thic  sect  of  Cerinthians,  so  called  from 
him,  wishing  to  have  reputable  authority  for  his  own  fiction, 
prefixed  the  title.  For  this  is  the  doctrine  of  Cerinthus,  that 
there  will  be  an  earthly  reign  of  Christ ;  and  as  he  was  a  lover 
of  the  body,  and  altogether  sensual  in  those  things  which  he  so 
eagerly  craved,  he  dreamed  that  he  would  revel  in  the  gratifica- 
tion of  the  sensual  appetite,  i.  e.  in  eating  and  drinking,  and 
marrying ;  and  to  give  the  things  a  milder  aspect  and  expression, 
in  festivals  and  sacrifices,  and  the  slaying  of  victims.  For  my 
part  I  would  not  venture  to  set  this  book  aside,  as  there  are  many 
brethren  that  value  it  much ;  but  having  formed  a  conception  of 
its  subject  as  exceeding  my  capacity,  I  consider  it  also  containing 
a  certain  concealed  and  wonderful  intimation  in  each  particular. 
For,  though  I  do  not  understand,  yet  I  suspect  that  some  deeper 
sense  is  enveloped  in  the  words,  and  these  I  do  not  measure  and 
judge  by  my  private  reason ;  but  allowing  more  to  faith,  I  have 
regarded  th.em  as  too  lofty  to  be  comprehended  by  me,  and  those 
things  which  I  do  not  understand,  I  do  not  reject,  but  I  wonder 
the  more  that  I  cannot  comprehend." 

After  this,  he  examines  the  whole  book  of  the  Revelation,  and 
2P 


298  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

after  proving  that  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  be  understood 
according  to  the  obvious  and  literal  sense,  he  proceeds :  "  The 
prophet,  as  I  said,  having  conjpleted  the  whole  prophecy,  he  pro- 
nounces those  blessed  that  should  observe  it  as  also  himself. 
*  For  blessed,'  says  he,  '  is  he  that  keepcth  the  words  of  the  pro- 
phecy of  this  book,  and  I,  John,*  who  have  seen  and  heard  these 
things.'  I  do  not,  therefore,  deny  that  he  was  called  John,  and 
that  this  was  the  writing  of  one  John.  And  I  agree  that  it  was 
the  work,  also,  of  some  holy  and  inspired  man.  But  I  would  not 
easily  agree  that  this  was  the  apostle,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  the 
brother  of  James,  who  is  the  author  of  the  gospel,  and  the  general 
(catholic)  epistle  that  bears  his  name.  But  I  conjecture,  both 
from  the  general  tenor  of  both,  and  the  form  and  complexion  of 
the  composition,  and  the  execution  of  the  whole  book,  that  it  is 
not  from  him.  For  the  evangelist  never  prefixes  his  name,  never 
proclaims  himself,  either  in  the  gospel  or  in  his  epistle." 

A  little  farther,  he  adds :  "  But  John  never  speaks  as  of  him 
self  (in  the  first  person),  nor  as  of  another  (in  the  third),  but  he 
that  wrote  the  apocalypse,  declares  himself  immediately  in  the 
beginning :  '  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  gave  to 
him  to  show  to  his  servants  quickly.  And  he  sent  and  signified 
it  by  his  angel,  to  his  servant  John,  who  bare  record  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  of  his  testimony  (of  Jesus  Christ)  and  of  all  things 
that  he  saw.' 

"  Besides  this,  he  wrote  an  epistle :  *  John  to  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia,  grace  and  peace  to  you.'  But  the  evangelist  does  not 
prefix  his  name  even  to  his  general  epistle  ;  but,  without  any  in- 
troduction or  circumlocution,  begins  from  the  very  mystery  of  the 
divine  revelation :  '  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which 
we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes ;'  for  upon 
such  a  revelation  as  this  Peter  was  blessed  by  our  Lord :  '  Bless- 
ed art  thou,  Simon  Ear-jona,  because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it  to  thee,  but  my  Father  in  heaven.'     But  neither  m 


*  Dionysius  here  understands  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse,  introducing  him- 
self  as  a  subject  of  the  same  blessedness  of  which  he  speaks.  This  connexion, 
though  not  usually  regarded,  is  obvious  on  an  inspection  of  the  original. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  299 

the  second  nor  third  epistle  ascribed  to  John  (the  apostle),  though 
they  are  very  brief,  is  the  name  of  John  presented.  But  anony- 
mously it  is  written,  the  jjresbyter.  But  the  other  did  not  consider 
it  sufficient  to  name  himself  but  once,  and  then  to  proceed  in  his 
narration,  but  afterwards  again  resumes,  '  I,  John,  your  brother 
and  partner  in  tribulation,  and  the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Je- 
sus, was  on  the  island  called  Patmos,  on  account  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus.'  And,  likewise,  at  the  end  (of 
the  book)  he  says ;  '  Blessed  is  he  that  keepeth  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book,  and  I  am  John  that  saw  and  heard  these 
things.' 

"  That  it  is  a  John  that  wrote  these  things  we  must  believe  him, 
as  he  says  it ;  but  what  John  it  is,  is  uncertain.  For  he  has  not 
said  that  he  was,  as  he  often  does  in  the  gospel,  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple of  the  Lord,  neither  the  one  leaning  on  his  bosom,  nor  the 
brother  of  James,  nor  he  that  himself  saw  and  heard  what  the 
Lord  did  and  said.  For  he  certainly  would  have  said  one  of 
these  particulars,  if  he  wished  to  make  himself  clearly  known. 
But  of  all  this  there  is  nothing,  he  only  calls  himself  our  brother 
and  companion,  and  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  blessed  on  account 
of  seeing  and  hearing  these  revelations.  I  am  of  opinion  there 
were  many  of  the  same  name  with  John  the  apostle,  who,  for 
their  love  and  admiration  and  emulation  of  him,  and  their  desire 
at  the  same  time,  like  him,  to  be  beloved  of  the  Lord,  adopted 
the  same  epithet,  just  as  we  find  the  name  of  Paul  and  of  Peter 
to  be  adopted  by  many  among  the  faithful. 

"  There  is  also  another  John,  surnamed  Mark,  mentioned  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  whom  Paul  and  Barnabas  took  in  com- 
pany with  them.  Of  whom  it  is  again  said  :  '  But  they  had  John 
as  their  minister.'  (Acts  xiii.  5.)  But  whether  this  is  the  one  that 
wrote  the  Apocalypse,  I  could  not  say.  For  it  is  not  written  that 
he  came  with  them  to  Asia.  But  he  says ;  'When  Paul  and  his 
company  loosed  from  Paphos,  they  came  to  Perga  in  Pamphylia, 
but  John,  departing  from  them,  returned  to  Jerusalem.'  I  think, 
therefore,  that  it  was  another  one  of  those  in  Asia.  For  they 
say  that  there  are  two  monuments  at  Ephesus,  and  that  each 
hears  the  name  of  John,  and  from  the  sentiments  and  the  expres- 
28 


300  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

sions,  as  also  their  composition,  it  might  be  very  reasonably  con- 
jectured that  this  one  is  ditTerent  from  that.  For  the  gospel  and 
epistle  mutually  agree.  They  commence  in  the  same  way ;  for 
the  one  says,  '  In  the  beginning  was  the  word ;'  the  other,  '  That 
which  was  from  the  beginning.'  The  one  says,  '  and  the  word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  (tabernacled)  among  us,  and  we  saw 
his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father.'  The 
other  says  the  same  things,  a  little  altered :  '  That  which  we 
have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which  we 
have  seen  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  word  of  life,  and 
the  life  w^as  manifested.'  These  things,  therefore,  are  premised, 
alluding,  as  he  has  shown  in  the  subsequent  parts,  to  those  who 
say  that  the  Lord  did  not  come  into  the  flesh.  Wherefore,  also, 
he  has  designedly  subjoined  :  '  What  we  have  seen  we  testify, 
and  we  declare  to  you  that  eternal  life,  which  was  with  the 
Father,  and  was  made  manifest  to  us ;  what  we  have  seen  and 
heard  w'e  declare  to  you.'  He  keeps  to  the  point,  and  does  not 
depart  from  his  subjects,  but  goes  through  all  in  the  same  chap- 
ters and  names,  some  of  which  we  shall  briefly  notice. 

"  But  the  attentive  reader  will  find  the  expressions,  the  life, 
the  light,  frequently  occurring  in  both ;  in  both  he  will  find  the 
expressions,  fleeing  from  darkness,  the  truth,  grace,  joy,  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  the  Lord,  the  judgment,  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  love 
of  God  to  us,  the  commandment  given  us  of  love  to  one  another, 
that  ice  ought  to  keep  all  the  commandments,  the  conviction  of  the 
world,  the  devil,  of  anti-christ,  the  promise  of  the  holy  spirit,  the 
adoption  of  God  {i.  e.  the  adoption  made  by  God),  the  faith  to  be 
exhibited  by  us  in  all  matters,  the  Father  and  the  Son,  every  where 
occurring  in  both.  And  altogether  throughout,  to  attentive  ob- 
servers, it  will  be  obvious  that  there  is  one  and  the  same  com- 
plexion and  character  in  the  gospel  and  epistle.  Very  different 
and  remote  from  all  this,  is  the  apocalypse ;  not  even  touching,  or 
even  bordering  upon  them  in  the  least,  I  miglit  say.  Not  even 
containing  a  syllable  in  common  with  them  ;  but  the  epistle,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  gospel,  has  not  made  any  mention,  or  given 
any  intimation  of  the  apocalypse,  nor  does  the  apocalypse  men- 
tion the  epistle.     Whereas,  Paul  indicates  something  of  his  reve- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  301 

lations  in  his  epistles ;  which,  however,  he  never  recorded  in 
writing. 

^  We  may,  also,  notice  how  the  phraseology  of  the  gospel  and 
the  epistle  dillers  from  the  apocalypse.  For  the  former  are 
written  not  only  irreprehensibly,  as  it  regards  the  Greek  language, 
but  are  most  elegant  in  diction  in  the  arguments  and  the  whole 
structure  of  the  style.  It  would  require  much  to  discover  any 
barbarism  or  solecism,  or  any  odd  peculiarity  of  expression*  at 
all  in  them.  For,  as  is  to  be  presumed,  he  w^as  endued  with  all 
the  requisites  for  his  discourse ;  the  Lord  having  granted  him 
both  that  of  knowledge  and  that  of  expression  and  style.  That 
the  latter,  however,  saw  a  revelation,  and  received  knowledge 
and  prophecy,  I  do  not  deny.  But  I  perceive  that  his  dialect  and 
language  is  not  very  accurate  Greek ;  but  that  he  uses  barbarous 
idioms,  and  in  some  places  solecisms,  which  it  is  now  unneces- 
sary to  select ;  for  neither  would  I  have  any  one  suppose  that 
I  am  saying  these  things  by  way  of  derision,  but  only  with  the 
view  to  point  out  the  great  difference  between  the  writings  of 
these  men." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  epistles  of  Diovysius. 


Besides  tliese,  there  are  many  other  epistles  of  Dionysius  ex- 
tant, as  those  to  Ammon,  bishop  of  the  church  at  Bernice,  against 
Sabellius ;  another  to  Telesphorus,  and  one  to  Euphranor ; 
another  to  Ammon  and  Euporus.  He  wrote  also  four  books  on 
the  same  subject,  which  he  addressed  to  his  namesake  Dionysius 
at  Ptome.  There  are  also  many  other  epistles  beside  these  writ- 
ten by  him,  together  with  longer  treatises  in  the  form  of  epistles, 
as  those  addressed  to  the  youth  Timothy,  and  that  On  Tempta- 
tions, which  he  also  dedicated  to  Euphranor,  He  also  says,  in  a 
letter  to  Basilides,  bishop  (of  the  churches)  ofPentapohs,  that  he 

*  We  have  here  paraphrased  the  worJ  'JioTur/^of, 


302  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

had  written  a  commentary  on  the  beginning  of  Ecclesiastes.  But 
he  has  also  left  us  several  epistles  addressed  to  the  same  Basili- 
des.  These  are  the  works  of  Dionysius.  Having  given  ♦his 
account,  let  us  now  proceed  to  inform  posterity  of  the  nature  and 
character  of  our  own  age. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Paul  of  Samosata,  and  the  heresy  introduced  by  him  at  Antioch. 

Xystus  had  been  bishop  of  Rome  eleven  years,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Dionysius,  the  namesake  of  the  bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria. At  this  time  also,  Demetrianus  dying  at  Antioch,  the  epis- 
copate was  conferred  on  Paul  of  Samosata.  As  he  entertained 
low  and  degrading  notions  of  Christ,  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  church,  and  taught  that  he  was  in  nature  but  a  common  man, 
the  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  being  invited  to  attend  the  council, 
urged  his  age  and  the  infirmity  of  his  body,  as  his  reason  for  de- 
ferring his  attendance,  but  gave  his  sentiments  of  the  subject  be- 
fore them  in  an  epistle.  But  the  other  heads  of  churches,  assem- 
bled in  all  haste  from  different  parts,  at  Antioch,  as  against  one 
who  was  committing  depredations  on  the  flock  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

The  different  bishops  then  distinguished. 

Among  these,  the  most  eminent  were  Firmilianus,  bishop  of 
Cesarea  in  Cappadocia,  Gregory  and  Athenodorus,  brothers  and 
pastors  of  the  churches  in  Pontus ;  also  Helenus,  bishop  of  the 
church  at  Tarsus,  and  Nicomas,  of  Iconium  ;  besides  Hyme- 
naeus  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and  Theotecnus,  of  the  adja- 
cent church  at  Cesarea  :  moreover,  Maximinus,  who  governed 
the  brethren  at  Bostra  with  great  celebrity.  The  vast  number 
of  others,  both  presbyters  and  deacons,  that  assembled  in  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  303; 

said  cit}',  for  the  same  cause,  one  could  hardly  number,  but  these 
were  the  most  distinguished  ;  all,  therefore,  having  convened  at 
different  times  and  frequently,  various  subjects  and  questions 
were  agitated  at  every  meeting :  the  adherents  of  the  Samosa- 
tians,  attempting  to  conceal  and  cover  over  their  heterodoxy,  but 
at  the  same  time  those  on  the  other  side  used  every  effort  to  un- 
mask and  bring  to  light  the  heresy,  and  the  blasphemy,  of  the  men 
against  Christ.  In  the  mean  time  Dionysius  died,  in  the  twelfth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  having  presided  over  the  church 
of  Alexandria  seventeen  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  Maximi- 
nus.  But  Gallienus  reigned  fifteen  years  in  all,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Claudius,  who,  after  the  lapse  of  two  years,  trans- 
ferred the  government  to  Aurelian. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 


Paul  refuted  by  a  certain  Malchion,  one  of  the  presbyters  who  had 
been  a  sophist,  teas  deposed. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  this  emperor,  when  a  final  council  was 
convened,  in  which  a  great  number  of  bishops  was  present,  and 
this  arch  heretic  at  Antioch  being  detected,  and  now  evidently 
discarded  by  all,  was  now  excommunicated  from  the  whole 
catholic  church  under  heaven.  He  was  refuted,  however,  and 
argued  out  of  his  lurking  place,  chiefly  by  Malchion  ;  a  man 
well  versed  in  other  departments  of  learning,  and  who  had  been 
at  the  head  of  the  sophist's  Greek  school  of  sciences  at  Antioch  ; 
but  who  also,  on  account  of  his  great  and  sincere  faith  in  Christ, 
was  honoured  with  the  office  of  presbyter  in  that  church.  This 
man  indeed,  was  the  only  one  who,  after  commencing  the  dis- 
cussion with  him,  which,  as  there  were  ready  writers  that  took 
down  the  whole,  we  know  to  be  nov^r  extant,  was  able  to  ferret 
out  the  sly  and  deceitful  sentiments  of  the  man. 
28* 


304  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  epistle  of  the  council  against  Paul. 

The  pastors,  therefore,  who  had  been  convened,  having  draM^n 
up  an  epistle,  by  common  consent  addressed  it  to  Dionysius  bishop 
of  Rome,  and  to  Maxim  us  of  Alexandria,  and  sent  it  to  all  the  pro- 
vinces. In  this,  they  set  forth  their  own  zeal  to  all,  and  the  per- 
verse doctrine  of  Paul,  together  with  the  arguments  and  discus- 
sions which  they  had  had  with  him  ;  stating  at  the  same  time,  the 
whole  life  and  conduct  of  the  man,  from  whose  statement  it  may 
be  well  perhaps  to  give  the  following  extracts  for  the  present. 
The  epistle  :  "  To  Dionysius  and  Maxiinus,  and  to  all  our  fellow- 
ministers  throughout  the  world,  the  bishops  and  presbyters  and 
deacons,  and  to  the  whole  catholic  church  throughout  the  world 
under  heaven :  Helenus,  Hymenaeus,  and  Theophilus,  and  Theo- 
tecnus,  and  Maximus,  Proculus,  Nicomas  and  vElianus,  Paul  and 
Bolanus  and  Protogenes,  Hierax,  and  Eutychius  and  Theodorus, 
and  Malchion  and  Lucius,  and  all  the  rest,  who  are  bishops, 
presbyters,  or  deacons,  dwelling  with  us,  in  the  neighbouring 
cities,  and  nations,  together  with  the  churches  of  God,  wish 
joy  to  the  beloved  brethren  in  the  Lord."  After  a  short  prelimi- 
nary, the  following  is  subjoined :  "  We  have  addressed  epistles, 
and  at  the  same  time  have  exhorted  many  of  the  bishops  at  a 
distance,  to  come  to  our  relief  from  this  destructive  doctrine: 
among  these,  to  Dionysius  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  Firmi- 
lianus  of  Cappadocia,  those  holy  men,  of  whom  the  one  wrote  to 
Antioch,  not  even  deigning  to  honour  the  leader  in  this  delusion 
with  an  address,  nor  writing  to  him  in  his  name,  but  to  the  whole 
church,  of  which  epistle  we  have  also  added  a  copy.  But  Fir- 
milianus  who  came  twice  to  Antioch,  despised  his  new  fangled 
doctrines,  as  we  who  were  present,  and  many  others  besides, 
well  know,  and  can  attest.  But  as  he  promised  to  change  his 
mind,  he  believed  him,  and  hoped  that,  without  any  reproach 
upon  the  word,  the  matter  would  be  settled  in  a  proper  manner. 
He  deferred  it  therefore ;  in  which,  however,  he  was  deceived 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  305 

by  this  denier  of  his  God  and  Lord,  and  this  deserter  of  his  former 
.faith.  FirmiHanus  was  now,  also,  on  his  way  to  Antioch,  and 
had  conie  as  far  as  Tarsus,  because  he  had  before  made  trial  of 
his  infidel  wickedness :  but  whilst  we  were  thus  collecting  and  re- 
questing him  to  come,  and  awaiting  his  arrival,  he  departed  this 
Hfe." 

After  these,  and  other  matters,  they  also  describe  what  kind 
of  a  life  the  man  kd,  as  follows :  "  But  in  those  instances  where 
he  abandoned  the  rule  of  faith,  and  went  over  to  spurious  and 
corrupt  doctrines  before,  there  is  no  necessity  of  judging  his 
conduct,  when  he  was  yet  in  no  connexion  with  the  church ; 
nor  that  he  was  in  poverty  and  beggary ;  and  that  he  who  had 
received  neither  wealth  from  his  fathers,  nor  obtained  possessions 
by  any  art,  or  any  trade  or  business,  has  now  arrived  at  ex- 
cessive wealth,  by  his  iniquities  and  sacrileges,  and  by  those 
various  means  which  he  employed  to  exact  and  extort  from  the 
brethren,  depressing  the  injured,  and  promising  to  aid  them  for 
a  reward ;  and  yet  how  he  deceived  them,  and  without  doing 
them  any  good,  took  advantage  of  the  readiness  of  those  who 
were  in  difficulties,  to  make  them  give  any  thing  in  order  to  be 
freed  from  their  oppressors.  Vv^e  shall  say  nothing  of  his  making 
merchandise  of  piety;  (1  Tim.  6.)  nor  how  he  affected  lofty  things, 
and  assumed  with  great  haughtiness  worldly  dignities,  wishing 
rather  to  be  called  a  magistrate  (ducenarius)  than  a  bishop,  strut- 
ting through  the  forum,  and  reading  letters,  and  repeating  them 
as  he  walked  in  public,  and  how  he  was  escorted  by  multitudes 
going  before  and  following  after  him:  how  he,  also,  brought 
envy  and  odium  upon  the  faith,  by  his  pomp,  and  the  haughti- 
ness of  his  heart.  We  shall  say  nothing  of  the  vanity  and  pre- 
tensions with  which  he  contrived,  in  our  ecclesiastical  assemblies, 
to  catch  at  glory  and  empty  shadows,  and  to  confound  the  mmds 
of  the  more  simple,  with  such  things  as  these ;  nothing  of  his 
preparing  himself  a  tribunal  and  throne,  not  as  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  but  having,  hke  the  rulers  of  this  world,  a  secretum,*  and 


•  The  secretum,  was  the  exclusive  seat  or  place  where  the  magistrate  sat  to  de- 
cide cases.     It  was  elevated  and  enclosed  witli  railings  and  curtains,  so  as  the  more 

2a 


306  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

calling  it  by  this  name ;  nothing  of  his  striking  his  thigh  and  his 
stamping  on  the  tribunal  with  his  feet,  and  his  reproving  and  in-. 
suiting  those  that  did  not  applaud  nor  clap*  as  in  the  theatres, 
nor  exclaim  and  leap  about  at  these  things  with  his  partisans, 
men  and  women  around  him,  who  were  the  indecent  listeners  to 
these  things ;  but  I  say,  reproving  those  that  were  modestly  and 
orderly  hearing  as  in  the  house  of  God :  nothing  of  his  harsh  in- 
vectives in  the  congregation,  against  the  expounders  of  the  word, 
who  had  departed  this  life,  and  of  his  magnifying  himself,  not 
as  a  bishop,  but  as  a  sophist  and  juggler.  Besides  this,  he  stop- 
ped the  psalms  that  were  sung  in  honour  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  late  compositions  of  modern  men,  but  in  honour  of  himself 
he  had  prepared  women  to  sing  at  the  great  festival  in  the  midst 
of  the  church,  which  one  might  shudder  to  hear.  He  suborned, 
also,  those  bishops  and  presbyters  of  the  neighbouring  districts 
and  cities  of  his  party,  to  advance  the  same  things  in  their  ad- 
dresses to  the  people.  For  if  we  may  here  anticipate  something 
of  what  we  intend  to  write  below,  he  does  not  wish  to  confess 
with  us  that  the  Son  of  God  descended  from  heaven.  And  this 
we  do  not  intend  merely  to  assert  in  words,  but  it  is  proved 
abundantly  from  those  records  that  we  have  sent  you,  and  that 
too  not  the  least,  where  he  says  that  Jesus  is  from  below.  Whilst 
they  who  sing  to  his  praise,  and  extol  him  among  the  people,  say 
that  he  has  descended  as  an  angel  from  heaven.  And  these 
things  he  by  no  means  prohibits,  but  the  haughty  mortal  is  even 
present  when  they  are  said.  And  as  to  these  women,  these 
adopted  sisters,f  as  the  inhabitants  of  Antioch  call  them,  which 
belong  to  him,  and  the  presbyters  and  deacons  about  him,  whose 
incurable  sins,  in  this  and  other  respects,  he  conceals  with  them, 

effectually  to  keep  the  magistrate  separate  from  those  present.  Hence  its  name 
from  the  Latin  secerno,  to  separate.  The  Latin  word  is  used  in  the  Greek  text 
here. 

*  The  practice  here  referred  to,  was  that  of  shaking  and  striking  the  oraria,  or 
linen  handkerchiefs,  in  token  of  applause.  It  was  accompanied  with  other  expres- 
sions of  popular  approbation. 

\  The  words  literally  mean,  sub-introduced  sisters,  a  sort  of  female  compa- 
nions, on  such  terms  of  familiarity  as  gave  occasion  to  scandal. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  307 

though  he  is  conscious  of  the  facts,  and  has  convicted  them,  he 
dissembles,  in  order  to  have  them  subservient  to  his  purposes ;  so 
that  fearing  for  themselves,  they  dare  not  venture  to  accuse  him 
in  regard  to  his  impious  conduct  and  doctrine.  Besides  this,  he 
has  made  them  rich,  for  which  he  is  both  beloved  and  admired 
by  those  who  covet  these  things.  But  why  should  we  write 
these  things  ?  For  beloved,  w^e  know  that  the  bishop  and  all  the 
clergy  ought  to  be  an  example  to  the  people  of  all  good  works. 
Nor  are  we  ignorant  how  many,  by  the  introduction  of  such  fe- 
males, have  fallen,  or  have  incurred  suspicion.  So  that  should  any 
one  even  grant,  that  nothing  disgraceful  has  been  done  by  him, 
yet  it  was  a  duty  to  avoid,  at  least,  the  suspicion  growing  out  of 
the  matter  ;  so  that  no  one  might  take  offence,  nor  any  be  induced 
to  imitate  him.  For  how  could  any  one  reprove  or  admonish 
another  to  beware  of  yielding  too  much  to  this  familiarity  with  a 
woman,  lest  perchance,  he  should  slip,  as  it  is  written  ;  especially 
when,  after  having  already  dismissed  one,  he  retains  two  others 
with  him,  blooming  in  age  and  eminent  for  beauty,  and  takes 
them  with  him  wherever  he  goes ;  and  all  this,  too,  indulging  in 
luxury  and  surfeiting,  on  account  of  which  things  all  around  them 
are  groaning  and  lamenting.  But  they  are  so  much  afraid  of 
his  tyranny  and  power,  that  they  do  not  venture  to  accuse  him. 
And  these  matters,  indeed,  one  might  perhaps  correct,  in  a  man 
who  was  of  the  catholic  faith,  and  associated  with  us ;  but  as 
to  one  who  has  trifled  away  the  sacred  mystery  (of  religion,)  and 
who  parades  with  the  execrable  heresy  of  Artemas,  (for  why 
should  we  not  mention  his  father,)  we  deem  it  unnecessary  to 
exact  of  him  a  reason  for  all  these  things." 

After  this,  at  the  close  of  the  epistle,  they  add  the  following . 
•'  We  have  been  compelled,  therefore,  to  excommunicate  this  man 
who  sets  himself  up  in  opposition  to  God,  and  is  unwilling  to  yield, 
and  to  appoint  another  bishop  in  his  place  over  the  catholic  church ; 
and  this  we  trust,  with  the  providence  of  God,  viz.,  Domnus  the 
son  of  Demetrianus,  of  blessed  memory,  and  who  before  this  pre- 
sided with  much  honour  over  the  same  church,  a  man  we  believe 
fully  endowed  with  all  the  excellent  qualities  of  a  bishop.  We 
have  also  communicated  this  to  you,  that  you  may  write,  and 


308  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

receive  letters  of  communion  from  him.  But  the  other  may 
write  to  Artemas  if  he  pleases,  and  those  that  thfnk  with  Arte 
mas  may  have  communion  with  him."  And  this  may  suffice  in 
this  place.  Paul,  therefore,  having  thus  fallen  from  the  episco- 
pate, together  with  the  true  faith,  as  already  said,  Domnus  suc- 
ceeded in  the  administration  of  the  church  at  Antioch.  But  Paul 
being  unwilling  to  leave  the  building  of  the  church,  an  appeal 
was  made  to  the  emperor  Aurelian,  who  decided  most  equitably 
on  the  business,  ordering  the  building  to  be  given  up  to  those 
whom  the  Christian  bishops  of  Italy  and  Rome  should  write. 
Thus,  then,  this  man  was  driven  out  of  the  church  with  extreme 
disgrace,  by  the  temporal  power  itself.  And  such  was  the  dis- 
position of  Aurelian  at  this  time ;  but  in  the  progress  of  his  reign, 
he  began  to  cherish  different  sentiments  with  regard  to  us,  and 
then  proceeded,  influenced  by  certain  advisers,  to  raise  a  persecu- 
tion against  us.  And  the  rumor  of  this  was  now  every  where 
abroad.  But  whilst  he  was  already  on  the  point,  and  so  to  say, 
in  the  very  act  of  subscribing  the  decrees,  the  divine  vengeance 
overtook  him,  all  but,  as  we  might  say,  restraining  him  from  his 
design  at  the  very  elbow,  and  illustriously  proving  to  all,  that 
there  can  be  no  privilege  granted  the  rulers  of  the  world  against 
the  churches  of  Christ,  unless  by  the  sovereign  hand  of  God,  and 
the  decree  of  heaven  permitting  it  to  be  done  for  our  correction 
and  amendment,  and  in  those  times  and  seasons  that  he  may  ap- 
prove. Aurelian,  therefore,  after  a  reign  of  six  years,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Probus,  and  he  held  the  government  the  same  number 
of  years,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Carus,  together  with  Ca- 
rianus  and  Numerianus.  These  again  did  not  continue  three 
full  years,  when  the  government  devolved  on  Diocletian,  and 
those  subsequently  associated  with  him.  In  their  times  the  per- 
secution of  our  own  day  was  begun,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
churches  at  the  same  time;  but  a  little  before  this,  Dionysius,  who 
had  been  bishop  of  Rome  for  nine  years,  was  succeeded  by  Felix. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  SOD 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

The  error  of  the  Manichees,  ichich  commenced  at  this  time. 

In  the  mean  time,  also,  that  madman  (fiavsig  tag  «^>peva$)  Ma- 
nes, *  as  he  was  called,  well  agreeing  with  his  name,  for  his  dgemo- 
niacal  heresy,  armed  himself  by  the  perversion  of  his  reason,  and 
at  the  instigation  of  Satan,  to  the  destruction  of  many.  He  was 
a  barbarian  in  his  life,  both  in  speech  and  conduct,  but  in  his 
nature  as  one  possessed  and  insane.  Accordingly,  he  attempted 
to  form  himself  into  a  Christ,  and  then  also  proclaimed  himself  to 
be  the  very  paracletef  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  with  all  this  was 
gi-eatly  puffed  up  with  his  madness.  Then,  as  if  he  were  Christ, 
he  selected  twelve  disciples,  the  partners  of  his  new  religion,  and 
after  patching  together  false  and  ungodly  doctrines,  collected  from 
a  thousand  heresies  long  since  extinct,  he  swept  them  off"  like  a 
deadly  poison,  from  Persia,  upon  this  part  of  the  world.  Hence 
the  impious  name  of  the  Manichees  spreading  among  many,  even 
to  the  present  day.  Such  then  was  the  occasion  of  this  loiow- 
ledge,  as  it  was  falsely  called,  that  sprouted  up  in  these  times. 

*  Our  author  here  uses  an  epithet,  [^xvni,  instead  of  the  proper  name  of  this  here- 
tic. Eusebius  here  taking  occasion  to  rail  at  the  folly  of  Manes,  by  an  allusion  to 
his  name,  finds  a  word  in  his  own  language  which  seems  to  characterise,  whilst  it 
gives  his  name  nearly.  We  cannot,  however,  infer  fiom  this,  that  Eusebius  consi- 
dered the  name  Greek.  He  doubtless  knew  as  well  as  we,  that  Manes  was  a  Per- 
sian name,  or  at  least  that  it  was  not  Greek.  But  he  wanted  nothing  more  than 
similarity  of  sound  for  his  purpose. 

Shorting  is  mistaken  in  supposing  our  author  hare  to  intimate  the  word  was 
Greek.  The  truth  is,  tlie  orientals  call  the  name  Mani,  whence  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Mimes.  The  resemblance  of  this  name  to  the  Greek  /-xiEic,  madman,  gave 
our  author  an  opportunity  to  exercise  his  wit,  by  the  application  of  the  epithet  with- 
out the  name. 

-j-  Paraclete.]  See  note,  Book  V.  ch.  16.  The  names  of  three  prominent  lea- 
ders in  delusion,  to  whom  the  holy  epithet  paraclete  was  either  applied,  or  by  whom 
it  was  claimed,  however  different  their  errors,  seem  almost  to  coalesce  by  allitera- 
tion ;  Montanus,  Manes,  Mahomet ;  the  first  a  deluded  and  ignorant  fanatic,  the 
second  a  crazed  philosopher,  and  the  third  an  ambitious,  artful  voluptuary,  present- 
ing a  singular  coiicovdia  discors,  all  at  antipodes  in  doctrine,  yet  all  aspiring  to  the 
exalted  attributes  of  the  Paraclete. 


^Slp  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XXXI I. 

Of  those  distinguished  ecclesiastical  toriters  of  our  oivn  day,  and 
which  of  them  survived  until  the  destruction  of  the  churches. 

At  this  time  Felix,  having  held  the  episcopate  at  Rome  five 
years,  was  succeeded  by  Eutychianus,  and  he  did  not  hold  the 
office  quite  ten  months,  when  he  left  his  place  to  be  occupied  by 
Caius  of  our  own  day.  Caius,  also,  presided  about  fifteen  years, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Marcellinus.  He  was  overtaken  by 
the  persecution,  and  in  these  times,  also,  Tim^us,  after  Domnus, 
governed  the  church  of  Antioch,  who  was  succeeded  by  our 
contemporary  Cyrillus,  under  whom  we  have  known  Dorotheus, 
a  learned  man,  who  was  honoured  with  the  rank  of  presbyter  of 
Antioch  at  that  time.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  taste  in  sacred 
literature,  and  was  much  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  so  that  he  read  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  with  great 
facility.  He,  also,  was  of  a  very  liberal  mind,  and  not  unac- 
quainted with  the  preparatory  studies  pursued  among  the  Greeks, 
but  in  other  respects  a  eunuch  by  nature,  having  been  such  from 
his  birth ;  so  that  the  emperor,  on  this  account,  as  if  it  were  a  great 
miracle,  received  him  into  his  house  and  family,  and  honoured  him 
with  an  appointment  over  the  purple  dye  establishment  of  Tyre. 
Him  we  have  heard  in  the  church  expounding  the  Scriptures 
witji  great  judgment;  after  Cyrillus,  the  duties  of  the  episcopal 
office  in  the  church  of  Antioch  were  administered  by  his  sus- 
cessor  Tyrannus,  under  whom  the  destruction  of  the  churches 
took  place.  At  Laodicea,  the  church  was  governed  by  Eusebius, 
the  successor  of  Socrates,  who  was  sprung  from  an  Alexandrian 
family.  The  occasion  of  his  removal  was  the  affair  respecting 
Paul  of  Samosat,  on  which  account  having  come  to  Syria,  he 
was  prevented  from  returning  home  by  those  who  took  great  in- 
terest in  the  Scriptures  there.  He  was  also  an  amiable  instance 
of  religion  among  our  contemporaries,  as  may  be  readily  seen  in 
those  extracts  from  Dionysius,  which  we  have  inserted  above. 
Anatoli  us  was  appointed  his  successor,  a  good  man,  as  they  say,  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  311 

the  place  of  the  good.  He,  too,  was  an  Alexandrian.  Eut  for  his 
learning  and  skill  in  the  Greek  philosophy,  he  was  superior  to 
any  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  our  day,  as  he  had  attain- 
ed unto  the  highest  eminence  in  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astro- 
nomy, besides  his  proficiency  in  dialectics,  and  physics,  and 
rhetoric.  On  this  account  it  is  said,  that  he  was  also  requested 
by  the  Alexandrians  to  establish  a  school  there  of  the  succession 
(or  order)  of  Aristotle.  They  relate  innumerable  achievements 
of  his  at  the  siege  of  the  Bruchium,*  at  Alexandria,  as  he  was 
honoured  by  all  in  office,  with  extraordinary  distinction ;  but  as 
a  specimen,  we  shall  only  mention  this. — When  the  bread,  as 
they  say,  failed  in  the  siege,  so  that  they  were  better  able  to 
sustain  their  enemies  from  without  than  the  famine  within,  Ana- 
tolius  being  present,  devised  a  project  like  the  following.  As  the 
other  part  of  the  city  was  in  alliance  with  the  Roman  army, 
and  therefore  happened  not  to  be  besieged,  he  sent  to  inform 
Eusebius,  who  was  among  those  not  besieged,  for  he  was  yet 
there  before  his  removal  to  Syria,  and  was  very  celebrated,  and 
in  high  repute  even  with  the  Roman  general,  to  inform  him  of 
the  siege  and  those  perishing  with  famine.  On  learning  this,  he 
begs  of  the  Roman  general  to  grant  safety  to  those  who  would 
desert  from  the  enemy,  as  the  greatest  favour  he  could  grant 
him.  Obtaining  his  request,  he  immediately  communicates  it  to 
Anatolius,  The  latter  receiving  the  promise,  collected  the 
senate  of  Alexandria,  and  at  first  began  to  propose  that  they 
should  come  to  a  reconciliation  with  the  Romans.  But  as  he  per- 
ceived that  they  were  incensed  at  the  suggestion,  he  said.  But  I 
do  not  think  you  will  oppose  me,  if  I  should  advise  you  to  send  forth 
the  superfluous  number,  and  those  that  are  of  no  use  to  us,  the 
old  women  and  children,  and  old  men,  and  let  them  go  where  they 
wish.  For  why  should  we  keep  those  with  us,  who  will  ere  long 
at  any  rate  die  to  no  purpose  ?  and  why  should  we  destroy  with 
famine  those  that  arc  already  bereft  of  sight  and  mutilated  in 
body  1     We  ought  to  feed  only  men  and  youth,  and  furnish  the 

•  The  Bruchium  here  mentioned,  was  a  part  of  Alexandria;  it  seems  derived 
from  TTufovxoi,  annonx  prxfectus,  and  was  a  kind  of  corn-market. 

29 


312  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

necessary  provisions  to  tliose  that  ai-e  necessary  for  the  defence 
of  the  city.  With  such  reasoning,  having  persuaded  the  senate, 
he  was  the  first  that  rose  and  proposed  the  resolution,  that  the 
whole  multitude  whether  of  men  or  women,  that  were  not  need- 
ed for  the  army,  should  be  dismissed  from  the  city,  because  there 
would  be  no  hope  of  safety  at  all  for  them,  who,  at  any  rate 
were  about  to  perish  Avith  the  famine,  if  they  continued  and 
lingered  in  the  city  until  the  state  of  affairs  was  desperate.  All 
the  rest  of  the  senate  agreeing  to  this  decree,  he  nearly  saved 
the  whole  of  the  besieged ;  among  the  first  providing,  that  those 
of  the  church,  then  those  of  every  age  in  the  town,  should  make 
their  escape,  and  among  these  not  only  those  that  were  included 
in  the  decree,  but  taking  the  opportunity,  many  others,  secretly 
clad  in  women's  clothes,  went  out  of  tlie  city  by  his  management 
at  night,  and  proceeded  to  the  Roman  camp.  There  Eusebius 
receiving  them  all,  like  a  father  and  physician,  recovered  them, 
wasted  away  by  a  protracted  siege,  with  every  kind  of  attention 
to  their  wants.  With  two  such  pastors  in  succession,  was  the 
church  of  Laodicea  honoured  by  the  divine  interposition,  who 
after  the  termination  of  the  war  mentioned,  had  left  the  city  of 
Alexandria,  and  came  to  these  parts.  But  in  other  respects  not 
many  books  were  written  by  Anatolius ;  so  many,  however,  have 
come  down  to  us,  by  which  we  may  both  learn  his  eloquence 
and  erudition.  In  these  he  sets  forth  his  opinions  on  the  Pass- 
over, from  which  it  might  be  proper  to  extract  the  following : — 
Extracts  from  the  Canons  of  Anatolius  on  the  Paschal  Festi- 
val. "  You  have,  therefore,  in  the  first  year,  the  new  moon  of 
the  first  month,  which  is  the  beginning  of  every  cycle  of  nineteen 
years,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  the  Egyptian  month  Phamenoth. 
But  according  to  the  months  of  the  Macedonians  the  twenty- 
second  of  Dystrus.  But  as  the  Romans  would  say,  before  the 
eleventh  of  the  calends  of  April.  But  the  sun  is  found  on  the 
said  twenty-sixth  of  the  month  Phamenoth,  not  only  as  entering 
the  first  segment  (of  the  zodiac),  but  on  the  fourth  day  is  already 
found  passing  through  it.  But  this  segment  they  generally  call 
the  first  dodecatomorium,  and  the  equinox,  and  the  beginning  of 
the  months,  and  the  head  of  the  cycle,  and  the  head  of  the  pla- 


-ft"' 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  313 

netary  course.  But  that  (segment)  before  this,  they  call  the  last 
of  the  months,  the  twelfth  segment,  and  the  last  dodecatemoriuvn, 
and  the  end  of  the  planetary  revolution.  Hence,  also,  those  that 
place  the  first  month  in  it,  and  that  fix  the  fourteenth  of  the 
month  by  it,  commit,  as  we  tliink,  no  little  and  no  common 
blunder.  But  neither  is  this  our  opinion  only,  but  it  was  also 
known  to  the  Jews  anciently,  and  before  Christ,  and  was  chiefly 
observed  by  them,  as  we  may  learn  from  Philo,  Josephus,  and 
Museeus;  and  not  only  from  these,  but  also  from  those  still  more 
q,ncient,  i.  e.  the  two  Agathobuli,  commonly  called  the  masters, 
and  of  Aristobulus,  that  most  distinguished  scholar,  who  was  one 
of  the  seventy  that  translated  the  holy  Scriptures  from  the  He- 
brew for  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  and  his  father,  and  dedicated 
his  exposition  of  the  law  of  Moses  to  the  same  kings.  These, 
when  they  resolve  inquiries  on  Exodus,  say  that  all  ought  to 
sacrifice  the  passover  alike  after  the  vernal  equinox,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  first  month.  But  this  is  found  to  be  when  the  sun 
passes  through  the  first  segment  of  the  solar,  or,  as  some  call  it, 
the  zodiacal  circle.  But  this  Aristobulus  also  adds,  it  was  re- 
quisite that  not  only  the  sun  should  have  passed  the  equinoctial 
segment  for  the  feast  of  the  passover,  but  the  moon  also.  For 
as  there  are  two  equinoctial  segments,  the  vernal  and  the  au- 
tumnal, and  diametrically  opposite  to  each  other,  and  since  the 
day  of  the  passover  is  given  on  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  at 
the  evening,  the  moon  will  stand  diametrically  opposite  to  the 
sun,  as  may  be  seen  in  full  moons.  Thus  the  sun  will  be  at  the 
vernal  equinox,  the  moon,  on  the  contrary,  at  the  autumnal  equi- 
nox, t 

"  Many  other  matters,  I  know,  have  been  discussed  by  him; 
some  of  them  with  great  probability,  others  established  with  the 
most  certain  demonstrations,  in  which  he  attempts  to  show  that 
the  festival  of  the  passover,  and  of  unleavened  bread,  ought  to 
be  observed  altogether  after  the  equinox ;  but  I  shall  omit  de- 
manding such  full  demonstrations  of  matters  from  which  the  veil 
of"  the  Mosaic  law  has  been  removed ;  and  it  now  remains  for 
us,  in  this  uncovered  surface,  to  contemplate,  as  in  a  mirror,  the 
reflected  doctrines  and  sufferings  of  Christ.  But  that  the  first 
2R 


314  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

month  of  the  Hebrews  is  about  the  equinox,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  book  of  Enoch." 

The  same  author  has  also  left  an  elementary  work,  On  Calcu- 
lation, ten  books  in  all ;  and  other  proofs  of  his  great  study  and 
proficiency  in  sacred  literature.  Theotecnus,  bishop  of  Ccsarea 
in  Palestine,  was  the  first  that  laid  his  hands  upon  him  in  his  or- 
dination to  the  episcopate,  designing  to  constitute  him  his  succes- 
sor in  his  own  church  after  his  death ;  and,  indeed,  both  of  them 
presided  for  a  short  time  over  the  same  church.  But  when  the 
synod  at  Antioch  called  him  to  Antioch  against  Paul,  as  he  passed 
through  the  city  of  Laodicea,  Eusebius,  the  bishop  of  that  place 
being  dead,  he  was  constrained  by  the  brethren  to  remain.  And 
Anatolius  also  dying,  Stephen  was  made  bishop  of  that  church, 
the  last  bishop  before  the  persecution  ;  a  man  greatly  admired 
for  his  knowledge  of  philosophy,  and  other  branches  of  Greek 
learning.  But  he  was  not  equally  disposed  towards  the  divine 
faith,  as  the  progress  of  the  persecution  evinced ;  in  which  he 
was  proved  to  be  timid  and  cowardly,  rather  than  a  sound  phi- 
losopher. The  aflliirs  of  the  church,  however,  were  not  likely 
to  be  ruined  by  this,  for  these  were  corrected  and  restored  b} 
Theodotus,  who,  under  a  special  providence  of  God,  the  saviour 
of  all,  was  ordained  bishop  of  the  church  there ;  and  by  his  deeds 
proved  the  reality  of  his  name  (given  of  God),  and  of  his  office 
as  bishop.  For  he  excelled  in  his  knowledge  of  the  medical  art, 
as  applied  to  the  body,  and  was  skilled  in  that  healing  art  which 
is  applied  to  the  soul.  No  one  was  ever  his  equal  in  kindness, 
sincerity,  sym.pathy,  and  a  zeal  to  benefit  those  that  needed  his 
aid.  He  was,  also,  much  Aercised  in  the  study  of  divine  things. 
Such  was  he. 

But  at  Cesarea  in  Palestine,  Theotecnus,  after  a  most  diligent 
and  active  episcopate,  was  succeeded  at  his  death  by  Agapius. 
Him  we  know  to  have  laboured  much,  and  to  have  kept  a  most 
thorough  oversight  in  superintending  the  people,  and  with  his 
Jiberal  hand  to  have  paid  regard  especially  to  the  poor.  In 
his  time,  we  v^'ere  acquainted  with  that  most  eloquent  man,  and 
truly  practical  philosopher,  who  was  honoured  witli  the  rank  of 
presbyter  in  that  church ;  I  mean   Pamphilus,  v/hose  character 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  315 

and  greatness  would  be  no  trifling  subject  to  elucidate.  But  we 
have  dwelt  in  a  separate  work  on  the  particulars  of  his  life,  and 
the  school  which  he  established,  as  also  the  trials  which  he  en- 
dured amid  the  persecution  in  the  difTerent  confessions,  and  be- 
sides this,  the  death  of  martyrdom  with  which  he  was  crowned. 
He,  indeed,  was  the  most  admirable  of  all  here.  Among  the  very 
eminent  men  that  have  flourished  near  our  own  times,  of  presby- 
ters we  have  known  Pierius  of  Alexandria,  Melchius  also  bishop 
of  the  churches  in  Pontus.  The  former  indeed  was  greatly  ce- 
lebrated for  his  voluntary  poverty,  and  his  philosophical  know- 
ledge, and  was  abundantly  exercised  in  expositions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  discourses  in  the  public  assemblies  of  the  church. 
But  Miletius  was  called  by  the  learned,  the  honey  (fff/lt)  of  At- 
tica, and  was  the  most  perfect  original  of  learned  men  that 
could  be  described.  It  is  impossible  also  to  admire  sufficiently  the 
superiority  of  his  eloquence :  it  might  be  said  perhaps  that  he 
derived  this  from  nature,  but  who  is  there  that  could  excel  him 
in  the  excellence  of  his  other  skill  and  erudition.  For  in  all  the 
sciences  that  require  the  exercise  of  argumentation,  if  you  were 
to  make  trial,  you  would  readily  say  that  he  was  a  most  subtle 
and  acute  reasoner.  The  virtues  of  his  life  were  also  a  paral- 
lel to  these.  We  have  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  him 
during  the  persecution,  escaping  its  fury  for  seven  years,  in  the 
regions  of  Palestine.  But  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  after  Hy- 
menasus,  was  under  the  episcopal  care  of  Zambdas,  and  he  not 
long  after  dying,  Hermon  was  the  last  before  the  persecution  of 
our  day ;  the  same  that  now  holds  the  apostolic  chair  preserved 
there  to  this  day.  At  Alexandria,  how^ever,  Maximus,  who 
held  the  episcopal  office  eighteen  years  after  the  death  of  Diony- 
sius,  was  succeeded  by  Theonas.  In  his  time  Achillas,  who  had 
been  honoured  with  the  order  of  presbyter,  was  noted  at  Alexan- 
dria, having  entrusted  to  him  the  school  for  religious  instruction. 
Injiis  life  and  actions  he  exhibited  a  most  rare  instance  of  sound 
wisdom,  and  a  genuine  specimen  of  evangelical  deportment.  But 
after  Theonas  had  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  nineteen 
years,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  episcopate  of  Alexandria  by  Pe- 
ter, who  was  also  very  eminent,  and  held  the  office  twelve  years ; 
29* 


316  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

nearly  three  of  which  he  governed  the  church,  before  the  perse- 
cution ;  but  the  rest  of  his  life  he  subjected  himself  to  a  more  rigid 
course  of  discipline,  but  still  continued  to  manifest  great  interest 
in  advancing  the  welfare  of  the  church.  Hence,  in  the  ninth  year 
of  the  persecution  he  was  beheaded,  and  thus  obtained  the  crown 
of  martyrdom.  But  after  giving  in  our  history  an  account  of 
the  successors,  since  the  birth  of  our  Saviour  until  the  demolition 
of  the  churches,  embracing  a  period  of  three  hundred  and  five 
years,  now  let  us  here  attempt  to  give  the  conflicts  which  have 
been  endured  in  the  cause  of  religion,  in  our  own  times,  in  all 
their  extent  and  magnitude,  that  it  may  be  on  record  also  for  the 
benefit  of  posterity. 


BOOK   VIII. 


Having  already  related  the  successions  of  the  apostles  in  seven 
books,  in  this  eighth  we  consider  it  necessary  to  record,  for  the 
benefit  of  posterity,  the  events  of  our  own  times  that  deserve  a 
more  than  superficial  narration.  And  our  account,  therefore, 
shall  besrin  with  these. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  events  that  preceded  the  -persecution  in  our  times. 

To  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  extent,  and  the  nature  of 
that  glory  and  liberty,  with  which  the  doctrine  of  piety  towards 
the  supreme  God,  as  announced  to  the  world  through  Christ,  was 
honoured  among  all,  both  Greeks  and  barbarians,  before  the  per- 
secution in  our  day,  this,  we  say,  were  an  undertaking  beyond 
our  power.  As  a  proof,  we  might  refer  to  the  clemency  of  the 
emperors  toward  our  brethren,  to  whom  they  even  entrusted  the 
government  of  provinces,  exonerating  them  from  all  anxiety  as  it 
regarded  sacrificing,  on  account  of  that  singular  good  v/ill  that 
they  entertained  toward  the  doctrine.  Why  should  we  speak 
of  those  in  the  imperial  palaces,  and  the  sovereigns  themselves, 
who  granted  their  domestics  the  liberty  of  declaring  themselves 
freely,  in  word  and  deed,  on  rehgion,  and  I  would  say  almost  the 
liberty  of  boasting  of  their  freedom  in  the  practice  of  the  faith  'I 
These,  indeed,  they  eminently  valued,  and  considered  them  as 
more  acceptable  than  their  associates  in  the  imperial  service. 

Such  was  that  Dorotheus,  the  most  devoted  and  most  faithful 
of  all  to  them,  and,  on  this  account,  exceedingly  honoured  beyond 
all  those  that  had  the  charge  of  government,  and  the  most  honour- 

317 


318     ,  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORV^. 

able  stations  in  the  provinces.  We  may  also  add  Gorgonius, 
equally  celebrated  with  hinn;  and  so  many  others  that  were 
honoured  with  the  same  distiiiction  as  these  on  account  of  the 
divine  word.  The  same  privileges  one  could  observe  conferred 
on  the  rulers  in  every  church,  who  were  courted  and  honoured 
with  the  greatest  subserviency  by  all  the  rulers  and  governors. 
Who  could  describe  those  vast  collections  of  men  that  flocked  to 
the  religion  of  Christ,  and  those  multitudes  crowding  in  from  every 
city,  and  the  illustrious  concourse  in  the  houses  of  worship  1  On 
whose  account,  not  content  with  the  ancient  buildings,  they 
erected  spacious  churches  from  the  foundation  in  all  the  cities. 
These,  advancing  in  the  lapse  of  time,  and  daily  increasing  in 
magnitude  and  improvement,  were  not  restrained  by  any  odium 
or  hostility.  Nor  was  any  malignant  doemon  able  to  infatuate, 
nor  human  machinations  prevent  them,  as  long  as  the  providential 
hand  of  God  superintended  and  guarded  his  people  as  the  worthy 
objects  of  his  care.  But  when,  by  reason  of  excessive  liberty, 
we  sunk  into  negligence  and  sloth,  one  envying  and  revihng  an- 
other in  different  ways,  and  we  were  almost,  as  it  were,  on  the 
point  of  taking  up  arms  against  each  other,  and  were  assailing 
each  other  with  words  as  with  darts  and  spears,  prelates  inveigh- 
ing against  prelates,  and  people  rising  up  agauist  people,  and 
hypocrisy  and  dissimulation  had  arisen  to  the  greatest  height  of 
malignity,  then  the  divine  judgment,  which  usually  proceeds  with 
a  lenient  hand,  whilst  the  multitudes  were  yet  crowding  into  the 
church,  with  gentle  and  mild  visitations  began  to  afflict  its  epis- 
copacy ;  the  persecution  having  begun  with  those  brethren  that 
were  in  the  army.  But,  as  if  destitute  of  all  sensibility,  we  were 
not  prompt  in  measures  to  appease  and  propitiate  the  Deity ;  some, 
indeed,  like  atheists,  regarding  our  situation  as  unheeded  and 
unobserved  by  a  providence,  we  added  one  wickedness  and  misery 
to  another.  But  some  that  appeared  to  be  our  pastors,  deserting 
the  law  of  piety,  were  inflamed  against  each  other  with  mutual 
strifes,  only  accumulating  quarrels  and  threats,  rivalship,  hostility 
and  hatred  to  each  other,  only  anxious  to  assert  the  government 
as  a  kind  of  sovereignty  for  themselves.  Then,  as  Jeremiah  says, 
"  the  Lord  in  his  anger  darkened  the  daughter  of  Sion,  and  hurled 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  319 

from  heaven  to  earth  the  glory  of  Israel.  Neither  did  he  remem- 
ber his  footstool  in  the  day  of  his  wrath.  But  the  Lord,  also, 
OA^erwhelmed  all  the  beauty  of  Israel,  and  tore  down  all  his 
walls."  And,  as  it  is  predicted  in  the  Psalms,  "  He  overturned 
the  covenant  of  his  servant,  and  he  prostrated  his  sanctuary  to 
the  earth,"  by  the  demolition  of  the  churches.  "  He  has  destroyed 
all  his  walls,  and  has  made  all  his  bulwarks  fear.  All  the  multi- 
tudes that  pass  through  have  ravaged  him,  and  hence  he  has  be- 
come a  reproach  to  his  neighbours.  For  he  has  exalted  the  right 
arm  of  his  enemies,  and  has  turned  away  the  help  of  his  sword,  nor 
aided  him  in  war.  But  he  has  also  deprived  him  of  his  purifica- 
tion, and  his  throne  he  has  cast  to  the  ground.  He  has  shortened 
the  days  of  his  time,  and  has  poured  upon  him  all  his  disgrace." 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  demolition  of  the  churches. 


All  this  has  been  fulfilled  in  our  day,  when  we  saw,  with  oui 
own  eyes,  our  houses  of  M^orship  thrown  down  from  their  eleva- 
tion, the  sacred  Scriptures  of  inspiration  committed  to  the  flames 
in  the  midst  of  the  markets,  the  shepherds  of  the  people  basely 
concealed  here  and  there,  some  of  them  ignominiously  captured, 
and  the  sport  of  their  enemies  ;  when,  also,  according  to  another 
prophetic  declaration,  "  contempt  was  poured  out  upon  their 
rulers,  and  he  has  made  them  to  err  in  a  trackless  by-path,  and 
where  there  is  no  road." 

But  it  is  not  for  me  to  describe  fully  the  sorrowful  calamities 
which  they  endured,  since  neither  does  it  belong  to  me  to  record  the 
dissensions  and  follies  which  they  exercised  against  each  other 
before  the  persecution.  Hence,  also,  we  have  purposed  not  to 
extend  our  narration  beyond  the  events  in  which  we  perceive  the 
just  judgment  of  God.  Hence,  also,  we  shall  not  make  mention 
of  those  that  were  shaken  by  the  persecution,  nor  of  those  that 
suffered  shipwreck  in  their  salvation,  and  of  their  own  accord 


320  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

were  sunk  into  the  depths  of  the  watery  gulph.  But  we  shall 
only,  upon  the  whole,  introduce  those  events  in  our  history  that 
may  be  profitable  first  to  us  of  the  present  day,  and  hereafter  to 
posterity.  Now  let  us  proceed  to  describe,  in  a  condensed  ac- 
count, the  holy  contlicts  of  the  witnesses  of  divine  truth. 

It  was  the  nineteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  and 
the  month  of  Dystrus,  called  by  the  Romans  March,  in  which  the 
festival  of  our  Saviour's  passion  was  at  hand,  when  the  imperial 
edicts  were  every  wnere  published,  to  tear  down  the  churches 
to  the  foundation,  and  to  destroy  the  sacred  Scriptures  by  fire, 
and  which  commanaed,  also,  that  those  who  were  in  honourable 
stations,  should  be  degraded,  but  those  w^ho  were  freedmen 
should  be  deprived  of  their  liberty,  if  they  persevered  in  their 
adherence  to  Christianity.  The  first  edict  against  us  was  of  this 
nature ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  other  edicts  were  also  issued, 
in  which  it  was  ordered  that  all  the  prelates  in  every  place, 
should  first  be  committed  to  prison,  and  then,  by  every  artifice 
constrained  to  offer  sacrifice  to  the  o-ods. 


CHAPTER    III. 


The  nature  of  the  conjllcts  endured  hy  the  martyrs,  in  the  pej 
secution. 

Then,  indeed,  vast  numbers  of  the  prelates  of  the  church  en- 
dured with  a  noble  resolution  the  most  appalling  trials,  and  ex- 
hibited instances  of  illustrious  conflicts  for  the  faith.  Vast  num- 
bers, however,  of  others,  broken  and  relaxed  in  spirit,  by  timidity 
before  the  contest,  voluntarily  yielded  at  the  first  onset.  But  of 
the  rest,  each  encountered  various  kinds  of  torments.  Here  was 
one  that  was  scourged  with  rods,  there  another  tormented  with 
the  rack  and  excruciating  scrapings,  in  which  some  at  the  time 
endured  the  most  terrible  death ;  others  again  passed  through  other 
torments  in  the  struggle.  Here  one,  whilst  some  forced  him  to 
the  impure  and  detestable  sacrifices,  was  again  dismissed,  as  if 


ECCLESIASTICAL  fflSTORY.  32i 

he  had  sacrificed,  although  this  was  not  the  case.  There  another, 
though  he  had  not  in  the  least  approached  the  altar,  not  even 
touched  the  unholy  thing,  yet  when  others  said  that  he  had  sacri- 
ficed, went  away,  bearing  the  calumny  in  silence.  Here  one, 
again  taken  up  when  half  dead,  was  thrown  out  as  if  he  were 
already  dead ;  there  another,  again  lying  upon  the  ground,  was 
dragged  a  long  distance  by  the  feet,  and, numbered  among  those 
that  had  sacrificed.  One,  however,  would  cry  out,  and  with  a 
loud  voice  declared  his  abhorrence  of  the  sacrifice.  Another  ex- 
cfaimed  that  he  was  a  Christian,  furnishing,  by  confession,  an 
illustrious  example  of  this  salutary  name.  Another  asserted  that 
he  neither  had  sacrificed  nor  intended  to  sacrifice;  but  these 
were  forced  to  silence  by  numerous  bands  of  soldiers,  prepared 
for  this  purpose,  by  whom  they  were  struck  on  the  face  and 
cheeks,  and  violently  driven  away.  Thus  the  enemies  of  reli- 
gion, upon  the  whole,  deemed  it  a  great  matter  even  to  appear 
to  have  gained  some  advantage.  But  these  things  did  not  avail 
them  much  against  the  saints,  to  give  an  exact  account  of  w^hom 
no  description  could  suffice. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


The  illustrious  martyrs  of  God,  who  filled  every  place  iviih  the 
celebrity  of  their  name,  and  obtained  various  crowns  of  mar- 
tyrdom foi-  their  piety. 

Many  instances  might  be  related  of  those  who  exhibited  noble 
alacrity  in  the  cause  of  that  religion  which  acknowledges  only 
the  one  Supreme  God,  and  that  not  only  from  the  time  that  the 
general  persecution  was  raised,  but  also  long  before,  when  all 
was  yet  in  a  state  of  peace.  Already  then,  when  he  who  had 
received  such  power,  was  first  roused  as  from  a  deep  slumber, 
he  had  secretly  and  unobserved,  been  plotting  after  the  times  of 
Decius  and  Valerian,  how  to  assault  the  churches ;  but  he  did  not 
all  at  once,  nor  in  a  mass,  wage  an  open  war  against  us,  but  as 
yet  only  made  trial  of  those  that  were  in  the  armies.  For  in 
2S 


322  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

this  way  he  supposed  that  the  rest  could  easily  be  taken,  if  he 
could  first  succeed  in  subduing  these.  Then  one  could  see  great 
numbers  of  the  mihtary,  most  cheerfully  embracing  a  private  life, 
so  as  not  to  renounce  their  reverence  for  the  Supreme  Creator 
of  the  universe.  For  when  the  general,  whoever  he  was,  first 
undertook  the  persecution  against  the  soldiers,  he  began  by  a  re- 
view and  lustration  of  those  that  were  enrolled  in  the  army, 
and  gave  them  their  choice,  either  to  enjoy  the  honour  conferred 
upon  them  if  they  obeyed,  or  on  the  contrary  to  be  deprived  of 
this,  if  they  disobeyed  the  command.  Very  many  who  were  sol- 
diers in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  without  hesitating,  preferred  the 
confession  of  his  name  to  that  apparent  glory  and  comfort  which 
they  enjoyed,  and  of  these  a  few  here  and  there  exchanged  their 
honours,  not  only  for  degradation  but  even  for  death,  for  their 
perseverance  in  religion.  These  last,  however,  were  not  yet 
many,  as  the  great  instigator  of  these  violent  measures  had,  as 
yet,  but  moderately  proceeded,  and  ventured  only  so  far  as  to 
shed  the  blood  of  some  only.  The  great  number  of  the  beUevers, 
probably  deterred  and  caused  him  to  shrink  from  a  general 
attack  upon  all ;  but  when  he  began  to  arm  more  openly,  it  is 
impossible  to  tell  how  many  and  how  eminent  those  were  that 
presented  themselves  in  every  place  and  city  and  country,  as 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  affairs  of  JVicomedia. 


Immediately  on  the  first  promulgation  of  the  edict,  a  certain 
man  of  no  mean  origin,  but  highly  esteemed  for  his  temporal  dig- 
nities, as  soon  as  the  decree  was  published  against  the  churches 
in  Nicomedia,  stimulated  by  a  divine  zeal,  and  exerted  by  an 
ardent  faith,  took  it  as  it  was  openly  placed  and  posted  up  for 
public  inspection,  and  tore  it  to  pieces  as  a  most  profane  and 
wicked  act.     This,  too,  was  done  when  two  of  the  Cesar's  were 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  323 

in  the  city,  the  first  of  whom  was  the  eldest  and  chief  of  all ; 
and  the  other  held  the  fourth  grade  of  the  imperial  dignity  after 
him.  But  this  man,  as  the  first  that  was  distinguished  there  in 
this  manner,  after  enduring  what  was  likely  to  follow  an  act  so 
daring,  preserved  his  mind  calm  and  serene  until  the  moment 
when  his  spirit  fled. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Those  that  were  in  the  palace. 


But  of  all  those  that  were  celebrated,  or  admired  for  their 
courage,  whether  among  Greeks  or  barbarians,  these  times  pro- 
duced noble  and  illustrious  martyrs,  in  the  case  of  Dorotheus  and 
his  associates,  domestics,  in  the  imperial  palace.  These  though 
honoured  with  the  highest  dignity  by  their  masters,  and  treated 
by  them  with  not  less  affection  than  their  own  children,  esteem- 
ed the  reproaches  and  trials  in  the  cause  of  religion,  as  of  much 
more  real  value  than  the  glory  and  luxuries  of  life ;  and  even 
the  various  kinds  of  death  that  were  invented  against  them  were 
preferred  to  these,  when  they  came  into  competition  with  reli- 
gion. We  shall  give  an  account  of  the  end  of  one,  leaving  it  for 
our  readers  to  conjecture  what  must  have  been  the  character  of 
the  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  others.  He  was  led  into  the  middle 
of  the  aforesaid  city,  before  those  emperors  already  mentioned. 
He  was  then  commanded  to  sacrifice,  but  as  he  refused,  he  was 
ordered  to  be  stripped  and  lifted  on  high,  and  to  be  scourged  with 
rods  over  his  whole  body,  until  he  should  be  subdued  in  his  reso- 
lution, and  forced  to  do  what  he  was  commanded.  But  as  he 
was  unmoveable  amid  all  these  sufferings,  his  bones  already  ap- 
pearing bared  of  the  flesh,  they  mixed  vinegar  with  salt,  and 
poured  it  upon  the  mangled  parts  of  the  body.  But  as  he  bore 
these  tortures,  a  gridiron  and  fire  was  produced,  and  the  rem- 
nants of  his  body,  like  pieces  of  meat  for  roasting  and  eating,  were 
placed  in  the  fire,  not  at  once,  so  that  he  might  not  expire  soon. 


324  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

but  taken  by  little  and  little,  whilst  his  torturers  were  not  per- 
mitted to  let  him  alone,  unless  after  these  sufferings  he  breathed 
his  last  before  they  had  completed  their  task.  He,  however,  per- 
severed in  his  purpose,  and  gave  up  his  life  victorious  in  the 
midst  of  his  tortures.  Such  was  the  martyrdom  of  one  of  the 
imperial  domestics,  worthy  in  reality  of  his  name,  for  he  was 
called  Peter.  But  we  shall  perceive  in  the  course  of  our  narra- 
tion, in  which  we  shall  study  brevity,  that  the  martyrdoms  of  the 
rest  were  in  no  respect  inferior  to  this.  We  shall  only  state  of 
Dorotheus,  and  Gorgonius,  with  many  others  of  the  imperial 
freedmen,  that  after  various  sufferings,  they  were  destroyed  by 
the  halter,  and  bore  away  the  prize  of  a  heavenly  victory.  At 
this  time  also,  Anthimus,  then  bishop  of  the  church  of  Nicome- 
dia,  was  beheaded  for  his  confession  of  Christ,  and  to  him  were 
added  a  multitude  of  believers  that  thronged  around  him. 

I  know  not  how  it  happened,  but  there  was  a  fire  that  broke 
out  in  the  imperial  palace  at  Nicomedia,  in  these  days,  which,  by 
a  false  suspicion  reported  abroad,  was  attributed  to  our  brethren 
as  the  authors;  in  consequence  of  which,  whole  families  of  the 
pious  here  were  slain  in  masses  at  the  imperial  command,  some 
with  the  sword,  some  also  with  fire.  Then  it  is  said  that  men 
and  women,  with  a  certain  divine  and  inexpressible  alacrity, 
rushed  into  the  fire.  But  the  populace  binding  another  number 
upon  planks,  threw  them  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  But  the  im- 
perial domestics,  also,  who  after  death  had  been  committed  to 
the  earth  with  proper  burial,  their  legal  masters  thought  neces- 
sary to  have  dug  up  again  from  their  sepulchres,  and  likewise 
cast  into  the  sea,  lest  any,  reasoning  like  themselves,  should  wor- 
ship them  in  their  graves,  as  if  they  were  gods.  And  such,  then, 
was  the  complexion  of  things  in  the  commencement  of  the  perse- 
cution at  Nicomedia. 

But,  ere  long,  as  there  were  some  in  the  region  called  Melitina, 
and  others,  again,  in  Syria,  that  attempted  to  usurp  the  govern- 
ment, it  was  commanded,  by  an  imperial  edict,  that  the  heads  of 
the  churches  every  where  should  be  thrust  into  prison  and  bonds. 
And  the  spectacle  of  affairs  after  these  events  exceeds  all  de- 
scription.    Innumerable  multitudes  were  imprisoned  in  every 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  326 

place,  and  the  dungeons,  formerly  destined  for  murderers  and 
the  vilest  criminals,  were  then  filled  with  bishops,  and  presbyters, 
and  deacons,  readers  and  exorcists,  so  that  there  was  no  room 
left  for  those  condemned  for  crime.  But  when  the  former  edict 
was  followed  by  another,  in  which  it  was  ordered  that  the  pri- 
soners should  be  permitted  to  have  their  liberty  if  they  sacrificed, 
but  persisting  they  should  be  punished  with  the  most  excruciating 
tortures,  who  could  tell  the  number  of  those  martyrs  in  every 
province,  and  particularly  in  Mauritania,  Thebais,  and  Egypt, 
that  suffered  death  for  their  religion  ?  From  the  last  place,  es- 
pecially,, many  went  to  other  cities  and  provinces,  and  became/ 
illustrious  for  their  martyrdom. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Hie  Egyptians  that  suffered  in  Phaenice. 

We  are  already  acquainted  with  those  of  them  that  shone 
conspicuous  in  Palestine,  and  know  also  those  in  Tyre  and  Phoe- 
nice  ;  and  at  the  sight  of  whom,  who  would  not  himself  be 
struck  with  astonishment  at  the  numberless  blows  inflicted,  and 
the  perseverance  of  those  truly  admirable  wrestlers  for  the  true 
religion  1  Who  can  behold,  without  amazement,  all  this :  their 
conflicts,  after  scourging,  with  bloody  beasts  of  prey,  when  they 
were  cast  as  food  to  leopards  and  bears,  wild  boars  and  bulls, 
goaded  with  fire,  and  branded  with  glowing  iron  against  them  ? 
And  in  each  of  these,  who  can  fail  to  admire  the  wonderful  pa- 
tience of  these  noble  martyrs  ?  At  these  scenes  we  have  been 
present  ourselves,  when  we  also  observed  the  divine  power  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  JesusChristhimself  present,  and  effectually 
displayed  in  them ;  when,  for  a  long  time,  the  devouring  wild 
beasts  would  not  dare  either  to  touch  or  to  approach  the  bodies 
of  these  pious  men,  but  directed  their  violence  against  others  that 


326  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

were  any  where  stimulating  them  from  without*  But  they 
would  not  even  touch  the  holy  wrestlers  standing  naked  and 
striking  at  them  with  their  hands,  as  they  were  commanded,  in 
order  to  irritate  the  beasts  against  them.  Sometimes,  indeed, 
they  would  also  rush  upon  them,  but,  as  if  repulsed  by  some  di- 
vine power,  they  again  retreated. 

This  continuing,  also,  for  a  long  time,  created  no  little  wonder 
to  the  spectators  ;  so  that  now  again  on  account  of  the  failure  in 
the  first  instance,  they  were  obliged  to  let  loose  the  beast  a  second 
and  a  third  time  upon  one  and  the  same  martyr.  One  could  not 
help  being  astonished  at  the  intrepid  perseverance  of  these  holy 
men,  and  the  firm  and  invincible  mind  of  those,  also,  whose  bo- 
dies were  but  young  and  tender.  For  you  could  have  seen  a 
youth  of  scarcely  twenty  years,  standing  unbound,  with  his  arms 
extended,  like  a  cross,  but  with  an  intrepid  and  fearless  earnest- 
ness, intensely  engaged  in  prayer  to  God,  neither  removing  nor 
declining  from  the  spot  where  he  stood,  whilst  bears  and  leopards 
breathed  rage  and  death,  and  almost  touched  his  very  flesh,  and 
yet  I  know  not  how,  by  a  divine  and  inscrutable  power,  they  had 
their  mouths  in  a  manner  bridled,  and  again  retreated  in  haste. 
And  such  was  he  of  whom  we  now  speak. 

Again,  you  might  have  seen  others,  for  they  were  five  in  all, 
cast  before  a  wild  bull,  who  indeed  seized  others,  that  approach- 
ed from  without,  with  his  horns,  and  tossed  them  in  the  air,  leav- 
ing them  to  be  taken  up  half  dead,  but  only  rushing  upon  the 
saints  with  rage  and  menaces ;  for  the  beast  was  not  able  even  to 
approach  them,  but  beating  the  earth  with  his  feet,  and  pushing 
with  his  horns  hither  and  thither,  and  from  the  irritation  excited 
by  the  brands  of  glowing  iron,  he  breathed  madness  and  death, 
yet  was  drawn  back  again  by  a  divine  interposition.     So  that  as 

*  Valesius  and  others  understand  this  expression  figuratively,  as  in  the  passage, 
"  What  have  we  to  do  with  those  without]"  meaning  the  heathen.  But  the  literal 
meaning  seems  to  be  natural  and  obvious,  and  refers  to  those  who,  standing  with- 
out the  arena,  in  the  amphitheatre,  were  urging  and  stimulating  the  beasts.  Our 
author  uses  the  same  expression  below,  evidently  witli  the  same  intention  as  here, 
to  designate  particular  persons.  The  figurative  sense  seems  to  be  too  general  in  an 
account  like  this. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  327 

he  did  not  even  injure  them  in  the  least,  they  let  loose  other 
beasts  upon  them.  At  length,  however,  after  these  various  and 
terrible  assaults,  all  of  them  were  despatched  with  the  sword, 
and  instead  of  an  interment  and  sepulchre,  they  were  committed 
to  the  waves  of  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  VIIl. 

Those  icho  suffered  in  Egypt 


And  such,  too,  was  the  severity  of  the  struggle  which  was  en- 
dured by  the  Egyptians,  who  wTestled  gloriously  for  the  faith  at 
Tyre.  But  one  cannot  but  admire  those  that  suffered  also  in  their 
native  land,  where  thousands,  both  men,  and  women,  and  children, 
despising  the  present  life  for  the  sake  of  our  Saviour's  doctrine, 
submitted  to  death  in  various  shapes.  Some,  after  being  tortured 
with  scrapings  and  the  rack,  and  the  most  dreadful  scourgings, 
and  other  innumerable  agonies,  which  one  might  shudder  to  hear, 
were  finally  committed  to  the  flames ;  some  plunged  and  drown- 
ed in  the  sea,  others  voluntarily  offering  their  own  heads  to  the 
executioners,  others  dying  in  the  midst  of  their  torments,  some 
wasted  away  by  famine,  and  others  again  fixed  to  the  cross. 
Some,  indeed,  were  executed  as  malefactors  usually  were ;  others 
more  cruelly,  were  nailed  with  the  head  downwards,  and  kept 
alive  until  they  were  destroyed  by  starving  on  the  cross  itself. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Of  those  in  Thebais. 


But  it  would  exceed  all  power  of  detail  to  give  an  idea  of  the 

sufTerings  and  tortures  which  the  martyrs  of  Thebais  endured. 

These,  instead  of  hooks,  had  their  bodies  scraped  with  shells,  and 

were  mangled  in  this  way  until  they  died.     Women  tied  by  one 

30* 


328  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

foot,  and  then  raised  en  high  in  the  air  by  certain  machines,  with 
their  naked  bodies  and  wholly  uncovered,  presented  this  most 
foul,  cruel,  and  inhuman  spectacle  to  all  beholders  ;  others  again 
perished,  bound  to  trees  and  branches.  For,  drawing  the  stoutest 
of  the  branches  together  by  machines  for  this  purpose,  and  bind- 
ing the  limbs  of  the  martyrs  to  each  of  these,  they  then  let  loose 
the  boughs  to  resume  their  natural  position,  designing  thus  to 
produce  a  violent  action,  to  tear  asunder  the  limbs  of  those 
whom  they  thus  treated.  And  all  these  things  were  doing  not 
only  for  a  few  days  or  some  time,  but  for  a  series  of  whole  years. 
At  one  time,  ten  or  more,  at  another,  more  than  twenty,  at  another 
time  not  less  than  thirty,  and  even  sixty,  and  again  at  another 
time,  a  hundred  men  with  their  wives  and  httle  ciiildren  were 
slain  in  one  day,  whilst  they  were  condemned  to  various  and 
varied  punishments.  We  ourselves  have  observed,  when  on  the 
spot,  many  crowded  together  in  one  day,  some  suffering  decapi- 
tation, some  the  torments  of  flames ;  so  that  the  murderous 
weapon  was  completely  blunted,  and  having  lost  its  edge,  broke 
to  pieces ;  and  the  executioners  themselves,  wearied  with  slaugh- 
ter, were  obliged  to  relieve  one  another.  Then,  also,  we  were 
witnesses  to  the  most  admirable  ardour  of  mind,  and  the  truly 
divine  energy  and  alacrity  of  those  that  believed  in  the  Christ  of 
God.  For  as  soon  as  the  sentence  was  pronounced  against  the 
first,  others  rushed  forward  from  other  parts  to  the  tribunal  be- 
fore the  judge,  confessing  they  were  Christians,  most  indifferent 
to  the  dreadful  and  multiform  tortures  that  awaited  them,  but 
declaring  themselves  fully  and  in  the  most  undaunted  manner  on 
the  religion  which  acknowledges  only  one  Supreme  God.  They 
received,  indeed,  the  final  sentence  of  death  with  gladness  and 
exultation,  so  far  as  even  to  sing  and  send  up  hymns  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving,  until  they  breathed  their  last.  Admirable,  in- 
deed, were  these,  but  eminently  wonderful  were  also  those  who, 
though  they  were  distinguished  for  wealth  and  noble  birth  and 
great  reputation,  and  excelled  in  philosophy  and  learning,  still 
regarded  all  as  but  secondary  to  the  true  religion  and  faith  in  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Such  was  Philoromus,  who 
held  no  mean  office  in  the  imperial  district  of  Alexandria,  and 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  329 

who,  according  to  Ins  rank  and  Roman  dignity,  was  attended  by 
a  military  guard,  when  administering  justice  every  day.  Phileas, 
also,  bishop  of  the  churches  of  Thmuis,  a  man  eminent  for  his 
conduct  and  the  services  rendered  to  his  country,  as  well  as  in 
the  different  branches  of  philosophy.  These,  although  urged  by 
innumerable  relatives  and  other  friends,  and  though  many  emi- 
nent persons  and  the  judge  himself  entreated  them,  that  they 
should  take  compassion  on  themselves  and  have  mercy  upon  their 
children  and  wives,  were  nevertheless  not  in  the  least  induced 
by  these  things  to  prefer  life,  when  it  stood  in  competition  with 
the  comm.and  that  regarded  the  confession  or  the  denial  of 
our  Saviour.  And  thus,  with  a  manly  and  philosophical  mind, 
rather  let  me  say  with  a  mind  devoted  to  God  and  his  religion, 
persevering  in  opposition  to  all  the  threats  and  the  insults  of  the 
judge,  both  of  them  were  condemned  to  lose  their  heads. 


CHAPTER  X. 


The  uritings  of  Phileas,  which  give  an  account  of  the  ?nartyrs  of 
Alexandria. 

But  since  w^e  have  mentioned  Phileas,  as  highly  estimable  for 
his  great  proficiency  also  in  foreign  literature  and  science,  we 
will  let  him  bear  witness  for  himself,  whilst  he  may  also  show  us 
who  he  was,  and  also  what  martyrdoms  happened,  at  Alexandria, 
all  which  he  can  state  more  accurately  than  ourselves,  in  the  ex- 
tract we  here  present. 

From  the  epistle  of  Phileas  to  the  inhabitants  of  Thmuis.  "As 
all  these  signs,  examples,  and  noble  precepts  are  presented  to  us  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  those  holy  martyrs  with  us  did  not  hesitate, 
whilst  they  sincerely  directed  their  mental  eye  to  that  God  who 
rules  over  all,  and  in  their  minds  preferred  death  for  their  reli- 
gion, and  firmly  adhered  to  their  vocation.  Tliey  had  well  un- 
derstood that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  became  man  for  us,  that  he 
might  remove  all  sin,  and  furnish  us  with  the  means  of  entering 
2T 


330  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

into  eternal  life.  For  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with 
God,  but  humbled  himself,  taking  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 
and  being  found  in  the  fashion  of  man,  he  humbled  himself  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross."  Hence,  also,  these  Christ- 
bearing  *  martyrs,  zealously  strove  to  attain  unto  belter  gifts,  and 
endured  every  kind  of  trial,  every  series  of  tortures  not  merely 
once,  but  once  and  again,  the  second  time ;  and  though  the 
guards  assailed  them  with  every  land  of  threat,  not  merely  in 
words,  but  vied  with  one  another  in  violent  acts,  they  did  not 
surrender  their  faith,  because  "  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear." 
And  what  language  would  suffice  to  recount  their  virtues,  and 
their  fortitude  under  every  trial  ?  For  as  every  one  had  the 
liberty  to  abuse  them,  some  beat  them  with  clubs,  some  with 
rods,  some  with  scourges,  others  again  with  thongs,  others  with 
ropes.  And  the  sight  of  these  torments  was  varied  and  multi- 
plied, exhibiting  excessive  malignity.  For  som.e  had  their  hands 
tied  behind  them,  and  were  suspended  on  the  rack,t  and  every 
limb  was  stretched  with  machines.  Then  the  torturers,  accord- 
ing to  their  orders,  applied  the  pincers  to  the  whole  body,  not 
merely  as  in  the  case  of  murderers,  to  the  sides,  but  also  to  tbe 
stomach  and  knees  and  cheeks.  Some,  indeed,  were  suspended 
on  high  by  one  hand,  from  the  portico,  whose  sufferings  by  rea- 
son of  the  distention  of  their  joints  and  limbs,  were  more  dreadful 
than  any.     Others  were  bound  face  to  face  to  pillars,  not  resting 

*The  original  here  is  the  expressive  epithet  /.p.ttojo.o.,  Christ-bearing,  Christo- 
phori ;  as  they  bore  all  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  by  a  strong  synecdoche,  they  were 
said  to  bear  Christ  himself,  the  voluntary  object  of  their  love  ;  and  thus  the  indirect 
cause  of  these  sufierings  in  which  they  rejoiced.  We  must  indulge  such  anoma- 
lous compounds,  as  this,  in  our  language,  when  a  novel  idea  seems  to  require  it. 
The  composition  itself  is  not  more  singular  than  the  idea  which  it  expresses.  Va- 
lesius,  though  he  does  not  follow  the  idea  in  his  version,  explains  the  word  as 
meaning  full  of  Christ,  and  refers  to  the  epithet  Theophorus  given  to  Ignatius. 
Shorting  has  rendered  it,  therefore,  full  of  Christ.  But  by  such  a  version  and  ety- 
mology, the  allusion  in  the  context  is  entirely  lost.  The  martyrs  were  called  by  a 
strong  figure,  Christophori,  because  they  bore,  and  Ignatius  was  called  Theophorus 
for  the  same  reason. 

■\  The  instrument  of  torture  here  mentioned,  appears  to  have  been  the  Koman 
eculeus.  It  was  so  constructed,  that  the  person  was  suspended  oji  it,  and  his  limbs 
stretched  by  screws.     It  was  applied  at  first  only  to  slaves.. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  lUSTORY.  331 

upon  their  feet,  but  forced  down  by  the  weight  of  tlic  body, 
whilst  the  pressure  of  their  weight  also  increased  the  tension  of 
their  cords.  And  this  they  endured,  not  merelj^  as  long  as  the 
governor  spoke  to  them,  or  as  long  merely  as  he  had  leisure  to 
hear,  but  nearly  the  whole  day.  For  when  he  passed  on  to 
others,  he  left  some  of  his  subordinate  oflicers  to  attend  to  the 
former,  to  observe  whether  any  of  them  seemed  overcome  by 
the  torments,  to  surrender.  But  he  gave  orders  to  proceed  with- 
out sparing,  to  bind  with  bonds,  and  afterwards,  when  they  had 
breathed  out  their  life,  to  drag  them  on  the  ground.  For  they 
said  that  there  should  not  the  least  regard  be  paid  to  us,  but  that 
they  should  think  and  act  with  us  as  if  we  were  nothing  at  all. 

Our  enemies,  therefore,  had  devised  this  second  torture  beside 
the  scourging.  But  there  were  some,  also,  after  the  tortures, 
placed  in  the  stocks,  stretched  by  both  feet  to  the  fourth  hole. 
So  that  they  were  of  necessity  obliged  to  keep  in  a  lying  posture 
on  their  back,  not  being  able  to  have  any  command  of  their  man- 
gled bodies,  in  consequence  of  the  blow^s  and  scourges  they  had 
received.  Others,  again,  being  cast  on  the  ground,  lay  prostrated 
by  the  accumulated  tortures  which  they  had  endured,  exhibiting 
a  still  more  dreadful  spectacle  in  that  condition  than  when  under 
the  actual  infliction  of  the  torture,  and  bearing  on  their  bodies 
the  various  and  multiplied  proofs  of  the  ingenuity  of  their  tor- 
turers. 

Whilst  these  things  were  doing,  some  indeed  died  under  their 
torments,  covering  their  enemies  with  shame  by  their  persever- 
ance. Others,  again,  almost  dead,  were  thrust  into  prison,  and 
before  many  days  ended  their  life  through  incessant  pain.  The 
rest,  however,  somewhat  recovering  by  the  application  of  reme- 
dies, by  time  and  their  long  detention  in  prison,  became  more 
confident.  Thus,  then,  when  ordered  to  take  their  choice,  either 
by  touching  the  unholy  sacrifice,  to  remain  without  further  mo- 
lestation, and  to  obtain  the  execrable  sentence  of  liberation  from 
tliem,  or  else,  without  sacrificing,  to  expect  the  sentence  of  death, 
they  without  delay  cheerfully  embraced  death.  They  well  knew 
what  had  been  anciently  prescribed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures: 
"  For  he  tiiat  ofFcrcth  sacrifice  to  oilier  gods,"  saith  the  Scrip 


336  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

tures,  "  shall  be  destroyed."  And,  again,  "  thou  shalt  have 
none  other  gods  but  me."  These  are  the  expressions  of  a  martyr, 
who  was  at  once  a  sound  philosopher  and  one  devoted  to  God. 
These  he  addressed  before  the  final  sentence,  whilst  yet  in  prison, 
to  the  brethren  of  his  church,  at  the  same  time  representing  his 
own  condition,*  and  exhorting  them  to  adhere  firmly,  even  after 
his  death,  which  was  close  at  hand,  to  the  Christian  religion. 
But  why  should  we  say  much,  and  add  one  new  species  of  strug- 
gle after  another,  as  they  were  endured  by  these  pious  martyrs 
throughout  the  world  ;  especially  when  they  were  no  longer  as- 
sailed in  a  common  way,  but  regularly  invaded  as  in  war  1 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  events  in  Phrijgia. 


Indeed  the  armed  soldiery  surrounded  a  certain  Christian 
town  in  Phrygia,  together  with  the  garrison,  and  hurling  fire 
into  it,  burnt  them,  together  with  women  and  children,  calling 
upon  Christ  the  God  of  all.  And  this,  because  all  the  inhabitants 
of  this  town,  even  the  very  governor  and  magistrate,  with  all 
the  men  of  rank,  and  the  whole  people,  confessed  themselves 
Christians,  and  would  not  obey,  in  any  degree,  those  that  com- 
manded them  to  offer  sacrifices. 

Another  one,  also,  of  Roman  dignity,  Adanetus  by  name,  of  a 
noble  Italian  family,  a  man  that  had  been  advanced  through 
every  grade  of  dignity  by  the  emperors,  and  had  reputably  filled 
the  offices  of  general  administrator,^  called  by  them  the  master 
of  the  revenue,  and  pcime  minister.  And  yet  with  all  this  he 
was  pre-eminent,  also,  for  his  pious  acts,  and  his  profession  ot 
Christ,  and  was  nobly  crowned  with  martyrdom  ;  nobly  endurmg 
the  conflict  in  the  cause  of  piety  whilst  he  was  yet  clad  with  the 
office  of  prime  minister. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Of  many  others,  both  men  and  vomcn,  irho  suffered  in  different 
uays. 

Whv  should  I  now  mention  the  names  of  others,  or  numher  tlie 
muhitude  of  men,  or  picture  the  various  torments  of  the  admir- 
able martyrs  of  Christ ;  some  of  whom  were  slain  with  the  axe, 
as  in  Arabia;  some  had  their  limbs  fractured,  as  in Cappadocia ; 
and  some  were  suspended  by  the  feet,  and  a  little  raised  from  the 
ground,  with  their  heads  downward,  were  suffocated  with  the 
ascending  smoke  of  a  gentle  fire  kindled  below,  as  was  done  to 
those  in  Mesopotamia ;  some  were  mutilated  by  having  their 
noses,  ears,  and  hands  cut  ofl^  and  the  rest  of  their  limbs,  and 
parts  of  their  body  cut  to  pieces,  as  was  the  case  at  Alexandria  1 
Why  should  we  revive  the  recollection  of  those  at  Antioch,  who 
were  roasted  on  grates  of  fire,  not  to  kill  immediately,  but  torture 
them  with  a  lingering  punishment  ?  Others,  again,  rather  resolved 
to  thrust  their  arm  into  the  fire,  than  touch  the  unholy  sacrifice  ; 
some  shrinking  from  the  trial,  sooner  than  be  taken  and/all  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  cast  themselves  headlong  from  the 
lofty  houses,  considering  death  an  advantage  compared  with  the 
malignity  of  these  impious  persecutors.  A  certain  holy  and  ad- 
mirable femiale,  admirable  for  her  virtue,  and  illustrious  above  all 
at  Antioch  for  her  wealth,  family,  and  reputation,  had  educated 
her  two  daughters,  who  were  now  in  the  bloom  of  life,  noted  for 
their  beauty,  in  the  principles  of  piety.  As  they  had  excited 
great  envy  among  many,  every  measure  was  tried  to  trace  them 
in  their  concealment ;  but  when  it  was  discovered  that  they  were 
abroad,  they  were,  with  a  deep-laid  scheme,  called  to  Antioch. 
They  were  now-  caught  in  the  toils  of  the  soldiery.  The  mother, 
therefore,  being  at  a  loss  for  herself  and  daughters,  knowing  what 
dreadful  outrages  they  would  suffer  from  the  men,  represented 
their  situation  to  them,  and,  above  all,  the  threatened  violation 
of  their  chastity,  an  evil  more  to  be  dreaded  than  any  other,  to 
which  neither  she  nor  thev  should  even  listen  for  a  moment.     At 


334  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  same  time  declaring,  that  to  surrender  their  souls  to  the  sla- 
very of  dffimons  was  worse  than  death  and  destruction.  From  all 
these,  she  suggested  there  was  only  one  way  to  be  delivered,  to 
betake  themselves  to  the  aid  of  Christ.  After  this,  all  agreeing 
to  the  same  thing,  and  having  requested  the  guards  a  little  tim^ 
to  retire  on  the  way,  tiicy  decently  adjusted  their  garments,  and 
cast  themselves  into  the  flowing  river.  These,  then,  destroyed 
themselves. 

Another  pair  of  virgins  at  this  same  Antioch,  distinguished  for 
piety,  and  truly  sisters  in  all  respects,  illustrious  in  family,  wealth, 
youth,  and  beauty,  but  no  less  so  for  their  serious  minds,  their 
pious  deportment,  and  their  admirable  zeal,  as  if  the  earth  could 
not  bear  such  excellence,  were  ordered  by  the  worshippers  of 
dasmons  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea.  Such  were  the  facts  that 
occurred  at  Antioch.  Others  at  Pontus,  endured  torments  that 
are  too  horrible  to  relate.  Some  had  their  fingers  pierced  with 
sharp  reeds  thrust  under  their  nails.  Others,  having  masses  of 
melted  lead,  bubbling  and  boiling  with  heat,  poured  down  their 
backs,  and  roasted,  especially  in  the  most  sensitive*  parts  of  the 
body.  Others,  also,  endured  insufferable  torments  on  their:  bowels 
and  othfer  parts,  such  as  decency  forbids  to  describe,  which  those 
generous  and  equitable  judges,  with  a  view  to  display  their  own 
cruelty,  devised  as  some  pre-eminence  in  wisdom,  worthy  their 
ambition.  Thus  constantly  inventing  new  tortures,  they  vied 
with  one  another,  as  if  there  were  prizes  proposed  in  the  contest, 
who  should  invent  the  greatest  cruelties.  But  as  to  the  last  of  these 
calamities,  when  the  judges  now  had  despaired  of  inventing  any 
thing  more  effectual,  and  were  weary  with  slaughter,  and  had 
surfeited  themselves  with  shedding  of  blood,  they  then  applied 
themselves  to  what  they  considered  kindness  and  humani<ty,  so 
that  they  seemed  disposed  to  exercise  no  further  cruelty  against 
us.  For  said  they,  the  cities  should  not  be  polluted  with  blood 
any  more,  and  the  government  of  the  sovereigns  which  was  so 
kind  and  merciful  toward  all,  should  not  be  defamed  for  exces- 


*  Rufimus  translates,  or  rather  paraphrases,  with  much  elegance,  Usque  ad  loca 
pudenJa  quibus  naturalis  egestio  procurari  solet. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  335 

i^ive  cruelty :  it  was  moKe  proper  that  the  benefits  afforded  by 
their  humane  and  imperial  majesties,  should  be  extended  to  all, 
and  that  we  shoifid  no  longer  be  punished  with  death.  For  we 
were  liberated  from  this  punishment  by  the  great  clemency  of 
the  emperors.  After  this,  therefore,  they  were  ordered  only  to 
tear  out  our  eyes,  to  deprive  us  of  one  of  our  legs.  Such  was  their 
kindness,  and  such  the  lightest  kind  of  punishment  against  us ;  so 
that  in  consequence  of  this  humanity  of  theirs  it  was  impossible 
to  tell  the  great  and  incalculable  number  of  those  that  had  their 
right  eye  dug  out  with  the  sword  first,  and  after  this  seared  with 
a  red  hot  iron ;  those  too,  whose  left  foot  was  maimed  with  a 
searing  iron ;  after  these,  those  who  in  different  provinces  were 
condemned  to  the  copper  mines,  not  so  much  for  the  service  as 
for  the  contumely  and  m.isery  they  should  endure.  Many,  also, 
endured  conflicts  of  other  kinds,  which  it  would  be  impossible  to 
detail ;  for  their  noble  fortitude  surpasses  all  power  of  descrip- 
tion. In  this  the  magnanimous  confessors  of  Christ  that  shone 
conspicuous  throughout  the  whole  world,  every  where  struck 
the  beholders  with  astonishment,  and  presented  the  obvious 
proofs  of  our  Saviour's  divine  interposition  in  their  own  persons. 
And  hence,  to  mention  each  by  name,  would  be  at  least  a  long 
and  tedious  work,  not  to  say  impossible. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Those  prelates  that  evinced  the  reality  of  the  religion  they  pro- 
claimed ivith  their  blood. 

Of  those  prelates  of  the  church,  however,  who  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom in  the  most  celebrated  cities,  the  first  of  which  we  shall 
mention,  recorded  by  the  pious  as  a  witness  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  is  Anthimus,  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  who  was  beheaded. 
Of  the  martyrs  at  Antioch,  we  also  name  Lucian,  that  presbyter 
of  this  church,  who  during  all  his  life  was  pre-eminent  for  his  ex- 
cellent character  and  piety.  He  had  before,  at  Nicomedia,  and 
in  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  proclaimed  the  heavenly  king- 
31 


336  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

dom  of  Christ,  in  the  defence  that  he*  delivered,  and  afterwards 
bore  testimony  to  its  truth  in  his  actions.  Among  the  martyrs  at 
Phoenice,  the  most  noted  of  all,  were  those  pious  and  devoted 
pastors  of  the  spiritual  flocks  of  Christ,  Tyrannic,  bishop  of  the 
church  of  Tyre,  Zenobius  of  Sidon,  and  Silvanus  bishop  of  Emisa. 
The  last  of  these  was  cast  as  food  to  wild  beasts  at  Emisa,  and 
thus  ranked  in  the  number  of  martyrs,  but  each  of  the  former 
glorified  the  doctrine  of  God,  by  suffering  with  patience  until 
death.  The  one,  the  bishop,  was  committed  to  the  depths  of  the 
sea ;  but  Zenobius,  the  other,  a  most  excellent  physician,  died 
with  great  fortitude  under  the  tortures  applied  to  his  sides.  But 
among  the  martyrs  at  Palestine,  Silvanus,  bishop  of  the  churches 
about  Gaza,  was  beheaded  with  thirty-nine  others  at  the  copper 
mines  of  Phoeno.  Also,  those  of  Egypt  there,  Peleus  and  Nilue, 
who  were  bishops,  suffered  death  by  the  flames.  Among  these 
must  be  mentioned  the  presbyter  Pamphilus,  a  most  admirable 
man  of  our  times,  and  the  glory  of  the  church  at  Cesarea, 
whose  illustrious  deeds  we  have  set  forth  in  its  proper  place. 
But  of  those  that  were  prominent  as  martyrs  at  Alexandria,  all 
Egypt  and  Thebais,  the  first  whom  we  shall  mention  is  Peter, 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  a  man  wonderful  as  a  teacher  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  the  presbyters  with  him,  Faustus,  and  Dius, 
and  Ammonius,  perfect  witnesses*  of  Christ.  Phileas,  Pochumius, 
Hesychius  and  Theodorus,  bishops  of  churches  in  Egypt,  with 
many  others,  are  also  mentioned  as  distinguished  martyrs,  by  the 

*  We  have  translated  the  word  martyrs  here,  or  rather  presented  its  original 
meaning,  as  the  evident  intention  of  our  author.  The  word  in  the  Greek,  from 
signifying  a  witness,  was  applied  to  those  by  way  of  eminence,  who  by  their  death 
gave  the  most  striking  evidence  of  their  faith  that  mortals  can  give.  Such,  there- 
fore, were  called  witnesses  emphatically,  both  in  reference  to  the  truth  to  which 
they  witnessed,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  thus  gave  their  testimony.  In  this 
sense  our  Lord  himself  is  called  the  "  true  and  faithful  witness,"  (martyr.)  Our 
author  here,  by  attaching  the  attribute  perfect,  evidently  intimates  that  he  means 
to  lay  some  stress  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  martyrs,  as  witnesses  made  perfect 
by  their  death.  The  death  of  these  witnesses  is,  indeed,  according  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical phraseology  implied  in  the  word  perfect.  It  was  by  death  that  they  were 
constituted  perfect  confessors ;  before  that  they  were  regarded  only  as  confessors. 
This  may  suffice  to  explain  why  we  here  differ  from  Valesius  and  others.  See 
note,  Book  VI.  ch.  x. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  337 

churches  in  those  places  and  regions.  To  give  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  conflict  which  they  endured  in  the  cause  of  piety, 
throughout  the  whole  world,  and  to  give  a  full  account  of  the  cir- 
cumstances respecting  each,  could  not  be  expected  in  the  pre- 
sent woik.  This  would  rather  belong  to  those  who  were  eye- 
witnesses of  the  facts.  Those,  indeed,  at  which  I  myself  was 
present,  I  shall  publish  for  the  benefit  of  posterity  in  another 
work. 

In  the  present  work,  however,  I  shall,  to  the  abovemention- 
ed  facts,  add  the  revocation  issued  by  our  persecutors,  as  also 
those  events  that  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  the  persecution, 
believing  that  they  will  be  read  not  without  profit.  To  tell  the 
state  of  the  Roman  empire  before  the  war  was  waged  against  us, 
how  long  the  emperors  continued  friendly  and  peaceable  towards 
us,  and  how  great  was  the  abundance  and  prosperity  of  the  em- 
pire, what  description  would  sufiice  ?  Then,  indeed,  those  who 
held  the  supreme  command,  who  had  been  at  the  head  of  go- 
vernment ten  and  twenty  years,  passed  their  time  in  festivities 
and  shows,  and  joyous  feasts  and  entertainments  in  peace  and 
tranquillity.  And  in  this  state  of  uninterrupted  and  increasing 
prosperity  and  power,  they  suddenly  changed  our  peaceful  condi- 
tion, and  excited  against  us  a  most  unjust  and  nefarious  war.  For 
scarcely  had  the  second  year  of  this  war  been  passed,  when  a ' 
revolution  taking  place  in  the  whole  government,  it  was  com- 
pletely overturned.  A  disease  of  a  most  obstinate  nature  at- 
tacked the  chief  of  the  abovementioned  emperors,  by  which  he 
was  reduced  to  a  state  of  insanity,  together  with  him  th^t  was 
honoured  with  the  second  rank,  and  thus  betook  himself  to  a  pri- 
vate life.  But  these  things  had  been  scarcely  thus  done  when 
the  whole  empire  was  divided,  a  circumstance  which,  in  the  an- 
nals of  history,  never  happened  before,  any  w^here.  But,  it  was 
not  long  before  the  emperor  Constantius,  who  was  all  his  life  most 
kindly  and  favourably  disposed  towards  his  subjects,  and  also 
most  favourably  disposed  toward  the  divine  word,  departed  this 
\ik,  leaving  his  son  Constantine  a  true  copy  of  himself,  as  empe- 
ror and  Augustus,  his  successor.  He  was  the  first  of  these  em- 
2U 


338  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

perors  that  was  ranked  among  the  gods  *  by  them,  having  every 
honour  conferred  upon  him,  after  death,  that  was  due  to  an  em- 
peror. He  was  the  kindest  and  mildest  of  the  emperors,  and  in- 
deed the  only  one  of  them  in  our  times,  that  passed  his  Me  con- 
sistently Avith  the  imperial  dignity,  and  vi'ho  likewise  in  all  other 
respects  exhibited  the  greatest  condescension  and  benevolence  to 
all,  and  had  no  share  in  the  hostility  raised  against  us,  but  even 
preserved  and  protected  those  pious  persons  under  him  free  from 
harm  and  calumny.  Neither  did  he  demolish  the  churches,  nor 
devise  any  other  mischief  against  us,  and  at  length  enjoyed  a 
most  happy  and  blessed  death,  being  the  only  one  who,  at  his 
death,  did  peaceably  and  gloriously  leave  the  government  to  his 
own  son,  as  his  successor ;  a  prince  w  ho  in  all  respects  was  en- 
dowed with  the  greatest  moderation  and  piety.  His  son  Con- 
stantine,  therefore,  in  the  very  commencement,  being  proclaimed 
supreme  emperor  and  Augustus  by  the  soldiers,  and  much  longer 
before  this,  by  the  universal  sovereign  God,  resolved  to  tread  in 
the  footsteps  of  liis  father,  with  respect  to  our  faith.  And  such, 
indeed,  was  he.  But  Licinius  after  this  was  appointed  emperor 
and  Augustus,  by  a  common  vote  of  the  emperors.  Maximinus 
was  greatly  offended  at  this,  since  he  had  yet  received  only  the 
title  of  Cesar  from  all.  He,  therefore,  being  particularly  of  a  ty- 
rannical temper,  arrogating  to  himself  the  dignity,  was  created 
Augustus  by  himself.  In  the  mean  time,  being  detected  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  Hfe  of  Constantine,  the  same  (Maximian)  that 
we  have  mentioned  as  having  resumed  the  imperial  dignity  after 
his  resignation  was  carried  off  by  a  most  disgraceful  death.     And 

*  This  is  to  be  understood  of  the  four  emperors  then  reigning ;  Diocletian,  Maxi- 
mian, Constantius,  and  Galerius.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  senate  to  deify  the 
emperors  at  their  death.  Our  author,  without  intending  to  commend  the  practice, 
simply  states  the  fact  as  a  proof  of  the  popularity  of  Constantius  ;  as  the  honour  was 
not  indiscriminately  conferred.  Otherwise,  in  regard  to  this  deification,  our  author, 
in  the  midst  of  his  commendations,  almost  appears  a  little  ironical,  upon  the  practice, 
how  much  soever  he  honoured  the  memory  of  Constantius.  We  are  here  forcibly 
reminded  of  the  humorous  strife  between  ^sculapius  and  Hercules,  in  Lucian's 
dialogues,  where  Jupiter  at  last  decides  the  dispute  about  priority,  by  assigning  it  to 
JEsculapius,  because  he  died  first. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  339 

he  was  the  first  of  these  emperors  whose  statues  and  public 
monuments  were  demoHshed  as  commemorative  of  an  impious 
and  execrable  man. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  morals  of  the  'persecutors. 


Maxeivtius,  the  son  of  Maximian,  who  had  established  his 
government  at  Rome,  in  the  commencement,  pretended  indeed, 
by  a  species  of  accommodation  and  flattery  towards  the  Ro- 
mans, that  he  was  of  our  faith.  He,  therefore,  commanded  his 
subjects  to  desist  from  persecuting  the  Christians,  pretending  to 
piety  with  a  view  to  appear  much  more  mild  and  merciful  than 
the  former  rulers.  But  he  by  no  means  proved  to  be  in  his  ac- 
tions such  as  he  was  expected.  He  sunk  into  every  kind  of  wick- 
edness, leaving  no  impurity  or  licentiousness  untouched ;  com- 
mitting every  species  of  adultery  and  fornication,  separating 
wives  from  their  lawful  husbands,  and  after  abusing  these,  send- 
ing them  thus  most  shamefully  violated  back  again  to  their  hus- 
bands. And  these  things  he  perpetrated  not  upon  mean  and 
obscure  individuals,  but  insulting  more  particularly  the  most  pro- 
minent of  those  that  were  most  distinguished  in  the  senate.  Whilst 
he  was  thus  dreaded  by  all,  both  people  and  magistrates,  high 
and  low  were  galled  with  a  most  grievous  oppression  ;  and 
though  they  bore  this  severe  tyranny  quietly,  and  without  rebel- 
lion, it  produced  no  relief  from  his  murderous  cruelty.  On  a  cer- 
tain very  slight  occasion,  therefore,  he  gave  up  the  people  to  be 
slaughtered  by  the  praetorian  guards,  and  thus  multitudes  of  the 
Roman  people  were  slain  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  not  with 
the  arrows  and  spears  of  Scythians  or  barbarians,  but  of  their 
own  fellow-citizens.  It  would  be  impossible  to  tell  what  slaugh- 
ter was  made  of  the  senators  merely  for  the  sake  of  their  wealth, 
thousands  being  destroyed  on  a  variety  of  pretexts  and  fictitious 
crimes.  But  when  these  evils  had  reached  their  greatest  height, 
the  tyrant  was  induced  to  resort  to  the  mummery  of  magic.  At 
31* 


340  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

one  time  he  would  cut  open  pregnant  females,  at  another  examin- 
ing the  bowels  of  new  born  babes  ;  sometimes^  also  slaughtering 
lions  and  performing  any  kind  of  execrable  acts,  to  invoke  the 
daemons,  and  to  avert  the  impending  war.  For  all  his  hope  now 
was  that  victory  v/ould  be  secured  to  him  by  these  means.  It  is 
impossible  then  to  say,  in  what  different  ways  this  cruel  tyrant 
oppressed  his  subjects,  so  that  they  were  already  reduced  to 
such  extreme  want  and  scarcity,  such  as  they  say  has  never 
happened  at  Rome,  or  elsewhere  in  our  time.  But  Maximinus, 
who  was  sovereign  of  the  east,  as  he  had  secretly  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  Maxentius,  his  true  brother  in  wickedness  at  Rome, 
designed  to  conceal  his  designs  as  long  as  possible.  But  being 
at  length  detected,  he  suffered  the  deserved  punishment.  It  was 
wonderful  how  nearly  allied,  and  similar,  rather  how  vastly  be- 
yond the  tyranny  of  the  Roman,  were  the  cruelties  and  crimes  of 
this  tyrant.  The  first  of  impostors  and  jugglers,  were  honoured 
hy  him  with  the  highest  rank.  He  became  so  extremely  timo- 
rous and  superstitious,  and  valued  the  delusion  and  supposed  in- 
fluence of  daemons  above  all,  so  that  he  was  hardly  able  to  move 
his  finger,  one  might  say,  or  undertake  any  thing  without  sooth- 
sayers and  oracles.  Hence,  also,  he  assailed  us  with  a  more  vio- 
lent and  incessant  persecution  than  those  before  him.  He  ordered 
temples  to  be  erected  in  every  city,  and  those  that  had  been  de- 
molished by  time,  he  commanded  in  his  zeal  to  be  renewed. 
Priests  of  the  idols  he  established  in  every  place  and  city ;  and 
over  these  a  high  priest  in  every  province,  some  one  of  those 
who  had  been  particularly  distinguished  for  his  skill  in  the  ma- 
nagement of  political  affairs,  adding  a  military  guard.  He 
granted  to  all  his  jugglers  the  same  reverence  as  if  they  were 
the  most  pious  and  acceptable  to  the  gods,  freely  bestowing  on 
tliem  governments,  and  the  greatest  privileges. 

And  from  this  time  forth  he  began  to  vex,  not  merely  a  single 
city  or  region,  but  harassed  all  the  provinces  under  him,  by  ex- 
actions of  silver  and  gold  and  money,  by  the  most  oppressive 
seizures  and  confiscations  of  property,  in  different  ways  and  on 
various  pretexts.  Despoiling  the  wealthy  of  the  substance  in- 
herited from  their  fathers,  he  bestowed  vast  wealth,  and  heaps 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  341 

of  money  upon  the  flatterers  around  him.  And  he  had  now  ad- 
vanced to  such  a  pitch  of  rashness,  and  was  so  addicted  to  intox- 
ication, that,  in  his  drunken  frolics  he  was  frequently  deranged 
and  deprived  of  iiis  reason,  like  a  madman ;  so  that  what  he  com- 
manded when  he  was  intoxicated,  he  afterwards  regretted  when 
he  became  sober.  But  determined  to  leave  no  one  his  superior 
in  surfeiting  and  gluttony,  he  presented  himself  a  fit  master  of 
iniquity  to  the  rulers  and  subjects  around  him.  Initiating  the 
soldiers,  by  luxury  and  intemperance,  into  every  species  of  dissi- 
pation and  revelling,  encouraging  the  governors  and  generals,  by 
rapacity  and  avarice,  to  proceed  with  their  oppressions  against 
their  subjects,  with  almost  the  power  of  associate  tyrants.  Why 
should  I  mention  the  degrading  and  foul  lust  of  the  man  1  Or 
why  mention  his  innumerable  adulteries  t  There  was  not  a  city 
that  he  passed  through  in  which  he  did  not  commit  violence 
upon  females.  And  in  these  he  succeeded  against  all  but  the 
Christians.  For  they,  despising  death,  valued  his  power  but 
little. 

The  men  bore  fire,  sword,  and  crucifixions,  savage  beasts,  and 
the  depths  of  the  sea,  the  maiming  of  limbs,  and  searing  with  red 
hot  iron,  pricking  and  digging  out  the  eyes,  and  the  mutilations 
of  the  whole  body.  Also  hunger,  and  mines,  and  prisons ;  and 
after  all,  they  chose  these  sufferings  for  the  sake  of  religion,  ra- 
ther than  transfer  that  veneration  and  worship  to  idols  which  is 
due  to  God  only.  The  females,  also,  no  less  than  the  men,  were 
strengthened  by  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  word ;  so  that  somo 
endured  the  same  trials  as  the  men,  and  bore  away  the  same 
prizes  of  excellence.  Some,  when  forced  away,  yielded  up  their 
lives  rather  than  subjiiit  to  the  violation  of  their  bodies. 

The  tyrant  having  fully  gratified  his  lust  on  others  at  Alexan- 
dria, his  unbridled  passion  was  defeated  by  the  heroic  firmness 
of  one  female  only,  who  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
illustrious  at  Alexandria,  and  she  was  a  Christian.  She  was  in 
other  respects  distinguished  both  for  her  wealth,  and  family,  and 
condition,  but  esteemed  all  inferior  to  modesty.  Having  fre- 
quently made  attempts  to  bring  her  over  to  his  purposes,  though 
she  was  prepared  to  die,  he  could  not  destroy  her,  as  his  passion 


342  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

was  stronger  than  his  anger ;  but,  punishing  her  with  exile,  he 
took  away  all  lier  wealth.  Many  others,  also,  unable  to  bear 
even  the  threats  of  violation  from  the  rulers  of  the  heathen,  sub- 
mitted to  every  kind  of  torture,  the  rack  and  deadly  punishment. 
Admirable,  indeed,  were  all  these ;  but  far  above  all  most  admir- 
able, was  that  lady  who  was  one  of  the  most  noble  and  modest 
of  those  whom  Maxentius,  in  all  respects  like  Maximinus,  at- 
tempted to  violate.  For  when  she  understood  that  the  minions 
of  the  tyrant  in  such  matters,  had  burst  into  the  house  (for  she 
was  also  a  Christian),  and  that  her  husband,  who  was  the  prefect 
of  Rome,  had  suffered  them  to  carry  her  off,  she  requested  but  a 
little  time,  as  if  now  for  the  purpose  of  adorning  her  body :  she 
then  entered  her  chamber,  and  when  alone  thrust  a  sword  into 
her  breast.  Thus,  dying  immediately,  she  indeed  left  her  body 
to  the  conductors ;  but  in  her  deeds,  more  effectually  than  any 
language,  proclaims,  to  all  who  are  now  and  will  be  hereafter, 
that  virtue,  which  prevails  among  Christians,  is  the  only  invinci- 
ble and  imperishable  possession.  Such,  then,  was  the  flood  of 
iniquity  which  rushed  on  at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  which  was 
wrought  by  the  two  tyrants  that  swayed  the  east  and  the  west. 
And  who  is  there  that  examines  the  cause  of  these  evils,  that 
would  be  in  doubt  whether  he  should  pronounce  the  persecution 
raised  against  us,  proceeding  from  these  as  their  cause  ?  Espe- 
cially as  the  confusion  of  the  empire,  which  prevailed  to  a  great 
extent,  did  not  cease  before  the  Christians  received  full  liberty  of 
conscience  to  profess  their  religion  ? 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  events  that  happened  to  the  heathen. 

During  the  whole  ten  years  of  the  persecution,  there  was  no 
cessation  of  plots  and  civil  wars  among  the  persecutors  them- 
selves. For  the  sea  indeed  was  impassable  to  the  mariner,  nor 
could  any  set  sail  from  any  part,  without  being  exposed  to  every 
kind  of  torment,  cither  scourged,  or  racked  in  their  limbs,  or  la- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  343 

cerated  and  galled  with  torturing  instruments  in  their  sides,  to  as- 
certain whether  they  had  come  from  the  enemy  of  the  opposite 
party,  and  at  last  were  subjected  either  to  the  punishment  of  the 
cross  or  of  fire.  Besides  these  things,  one  saw  every  where 
shields  and  coats  of  mail  preparing,  darts  and  javelins  and  other 
implements  of  war ;  and  in  every  place,  also,  were  collections  of 
galleys  and  naval  armour.  Neither  was  there  any  thing  expect- 
ed any  where  but  the  attacks  of  enemies  from  day  to  day.  Be- 
sides this,  famine  and  pestilence  were  superadded,  of  which  we 
shall  relate  what  is  most  important  in  its  proper  place. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  change  of  affairs  for  the  better. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  throughout  the  whole  period  of 
the  persecution.  This,  by  the  goodness  of  God,  had  entirely 
ceased  in  the  tenth  year,  although  it  had  already  begun  to  relax 
after  the  eighth.  For  when  the  kindness  of  God's  providence 
regarded  us  again  with  a  gracious  and  merciful  eye,  then  indeed 
our  rulers,  and  those  very  persons  who  were  formerly  the  princi- 
pal agents  of  the  persecutions,  most  remarkably  changed  in  their 
sentiments,  began  to  recant,  and  attempted  to  extuiguish  the  blaze 
of  persecution  kindled  against  us  by  mild  proclamations  and  or- 
dinances. But  this  was  not  done  by  any  mere  human  agency, 
nor  was  it,  as  might  perhaps  be  supposed,  by  the  compassion  or 
the  humanity  of  our  rulers.  For,  so  far  from  this,  they  were 
daily  devising  more  and  severer  measures  against  us  from  the 
beginning  of  the  persecution  until  then,  constantly  inventing  new 
tortures  from  time  to  time  by  an  increasing  variety  of  machinery 
and  instruments  for  this  purpose.  But  the  evident  superinten- 
dence of  divine  Providence,  on  the  one  hand,  being  reconciled 
to  his  people,  and  on  the  other  assailing  the  author  of  these  mise- 
ries, exhibited  his  anger  against  him  as  the  ringleader  in  the  hor- 
rors of  the  whole  persecution.  Though  it  had  been  necessary 
that  these  things  should  occur  by  some  divine  judgment,  yet  it  is 


344  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

declared,  "  Wo  to  him  through  whom  the  offence  cometh." 
Hence  he  was  visited  by  a  judgment  sent  fronn  God,  which  be- 
ginning in  his  flesh  proceeded  to  his  very  soul.  For  a  sudden 
tumor  appeared  about  the  middle  of  the  body,  then  a  spongy 
fistula  in  these  parts,*  which  continued  to  extend  and  penetrate 
vv'ith  its  lilcerations  to  the  inmost  parts  of  the  bowels.  Hence 
sprung  an  immense  multitude  of  worms,  hence  also  an  insuffera- 
ble death-like  effluvia  exhaled,  as  his  whole  body  before  his  dis- 
ease, by  reason  of  his  gluttony,  had  been  changed  into  an  exces- 
sive mass  of  fat,  which  then  becoming  putrid,  exhibited  a  dread- 
ful and  intolerable  spectacle  to  those  that  drew  near.  Seme, 
indeed,  of  the  physicians,  totally  unable  to  endure  the  excessively 
offensive  smell,  were  slain ;  others  again,  as  the  swelling  had  pe- 
netrated every  where,  and  they  unable  to  give  any  relief,  des- 
paired of  safety,  and  were  put  to  death  witliout  mercy. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  revocation  of  the  emperors. 


Thus  struggling  with  so  many  miseries,  he  had  some  corn 
punctions  for  the  crimes  that  he  had  committed  against  the 
pious.  Turning,  therefore,  his  reflections  upon  himself,  first  of  all 
he  confessed  his  sin  to  the  supreme  God,  then  summoning  his 
officers,  he  immediately  orders  that,  without  delay,  they  should 
stop  the  persecution  against  the  Christians,  and  by  an  imperial 
ordinance  and  decree,  commanded  that  they  should  hasten  to  re- 
build the  churches,  that  they  might  perform  their  accustomed 
devotions,  and  offer  up  prayers  for  the  emperor's  safety.  This 
decree  was  immediately  followed  by  its  effects ;  the  imperial  de- 
crees were  published  in  the  cities,  embracing  the  following  revo- 
cation with  regard  to  us. 

*  Valesius  renders,  Repente  enim  circa  media  occultiorum  corporis  partium  loca 
abscessus  ei  nascitur  :  ulcus  deinde  in  imo  fistulosum. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  345 

The  Emperor  Cesar  Galerius  Valerius  Maximlanus,  Invictus, 
Augustus,  Pontifex  Maximus,  Germanicus  Maximus,  iEgyptiacus 
Maximus,  Thebaicus  Maximus,  Sarmaticus  Maximus,  the  fifth 
time  Persicus  Maximus,  second  time  Carpicus  JMaximus,  sixth 
time  Armeniacus  Maximus,  Medicus  Maximus,  Adiabenicus 
Maximus,  Tribune  of  the  People  XX.  Emperor  XIX.  Consul  VIII. 
Father  of  his  country,  Proconsul :  and  the  Emperor  Cesar  Flavius, 
Valerius  Constantinus,  Pius,  Felix,  Invictus,  Augustus,  Pontifex 
Maximus,  Tribune  of  the  People,  and  Emperor  V.  Consul,  Father 
of  his  country,  Proconsul :  also,  the  Emperor  Cesar  Valerius 
Licinianus,  Pius,  Felix,  Invictus,  Augustus ;  Pontifex,  Maximus, 
Tribune  of  the  People  IV.  Emperor  III.  Consul,  Pater  Patrias, 
Proconsul ;  to  their  subjects  in  the  provinces,  send  greeting : 

Among*  other  matters  which  we  have  devised  for  the  benefit 
and  common  advantage  of  our  people,  we  have  first  determined 
to  restore  all  things  according  to  the  ancient  laws  and  the  pub- 
lic institutions,!  of  the  Romans.  And  to  make  provision  for  this, 
that  also  the  Christians,  v/ho  have  left  the  religion  of  their  fathers, 
should  return  again  to  a  good  purpose  and  resolution.  For  by 
some  means,J  such  arrogance  had  overtaken  and  such  stupidity 
had  beset  them,  that   they  would  not  follow  the  principles  an- 

*  This  edict,  as  Eusebius  tells  us  below,  he  translated  from  the  Latin,  and  had 
he  not  mentioned  it,  it  could  be  inferred  from  the  style  and  phraseology  ;  as  the 
Latin  idiom  appears  more  than  once.  The  very  beginning  is  calculated  to  make 
this  impression. 

■j-  The  word  £jri,-T.,/«>,v,  here  occurring,  is  very  ambiguous.  We  suspected  at  first, 
our  author  had  before  him  ex  sententia  Roniani  popiili,  or  perhaps  plebiscitwn,  of 
which  Jii.uoo-i*  £jr<;T>j;Ki;v,  might  serve  as  a  hteral  translation,  though  not  very  intcUi 
gible.  After  writing  this  conjecture,  however,  we  examined  the  Latin  edict  pre- 
served by  Lanctantius,  and  find  the  original  was  disciplinam. 

^  We  suspect  the  Latin  here  was  quadam  ratione,  which  our  author  has  trans- 
lated T.vi  Koyitr/^y,,  by  u  Certain  mode  of  reasoning:  Valesius  seems  to  have  over- 
looked the  Latin  idiom  as  well  as  the  Greek,  and  rendered  qnodam  consensu.  But 
Eusebius  appears  to  have  mistaken  quadam  ratione,  and  translated  into  the  Greek 
accordingly.  '  What  confirms  our  conjecture  is,  that  the  edict  does  not  ascribe  any 
thing  like  reason  to  the  Christians,  but  imputes  their  conduct  to  some  stupid  in- 
fatuation. 

This  note  was  written  before  we  examined  the  Latin  copy  of  the  edict  in  Lane- 
taiitiufi. 

2X 


346  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

ciently  prescribed  to  them,  which  in  all  probability  their  ancestors 
had  established,  but  they  began  to  make  and  follow  laws,  each 
one  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  his  own  will,  and  thus  dif- 
ferent multitudes  assembled  with  different  opinions  and  of  differ- 
ent sects.  Hence,  when  a  decree  of  this  kind  was  issued  by  us, 
that  they  should  return  again  to  the  established  usages  of  their 
forefathers,  vast  numbers  were  subjected  to  danger,  many,  when 
threatened,  endured  various  kinds  of  death.  But  though  we  saw 
the  great  mass  still  persevering  in  their  folly,  and  that  they 
neither  gave  the  honour  that  was  due  to  the  immortal  gods,  nor 
heeded  that  of  the  Christians,  still  having  a  regard  to  our  cle- 
mency and  our  invariable  practice,  according  to  which  we  are 
wont  to  grant  pardon  to  all,  we  most  cheerfully  have  resolved 
to  extend  our  indulgence  in  this  matter  also:  that  there  may 
be  Christians  again,  and  that  they  may  restore  their  houses  in 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  assemble,  so  that  nothing  be 
done  by  them  contrary  to  their  profession.  In  another  epistle 
we  shall  point  out  to  the  judges,  what  they  will  be  required  to 
observe ;  whence,  according  to  this  condescension  of  ours,  they 
are  obligated  to  implore  their  God  for  our  safety,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  people  and  their  own.  That  in  every  place  the  public 
welfare  may  be  preserved,  and  they  may  live  uninolested  in  their 
respective  homes  and  fire-hearths. 

Such  was  the  purport  of  this  ordinance,  which,  according  to 
our  ability,  we  have  translated  from  the  Latin  into  the  Greek.* 
But  the  affairs  after  this  we  are  now  farther  to  consider. 

*  Since  writing  tlie  above  notes,  we  have  compared  the  original  Latin  edict, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  Lanctantius,  "  de  mortlbus  perseciiinvttm."  Our  con- 
jectures, as  it  regards  style  and  phraseology,  we  have  found  considerably  confirmed 
by  this  comparison.  The  Latinity,  however,  of  the  edict  itself,  savours  of  the  de- 
generacy of  the  day.  It  is  sui-prising,  that  neither  Valcsiiis  nor  his  translator, 
Shorting,  has  noticed  the  edict  as  preserved  by  Lanctantius.  And  yel  the  former 
has  struck  upon  the  signification  of  imimfc^,  occurring  twice  in  this  edict. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  347 


[/?i  some  copies,  this  is  appeiided  to  the  eighth  Book.*] 

But  the  author  of  this  edict  after  this  acknowledgment,  soon 
after  was  Hberated  from  his  pains,  and  terminated  his  life.  It  is 
agreed  he  was  the  original  cause  of  the  miseries  of  the  persecu- 
tion, as  he  had  long  before  the  movements  of  the  other  emperors, 
attempted  to  seduce  the  Christian  soldiers  of  his  own  house  from 
their  faith,  degrading  some  from  their  military  rank,  and  insulting 
others  in  the  most  abusive  manner,  even  punishing  some  with  death, 
and  at  last  exciting  his  associate  emperors  to  a  general  persecution 
against  all.  Nor  have  I  thought  proper,  that  the  death  of  these 
emperors  should  be  passed  over  in  silence.  As  there  were  four, 
therefore,  that  held  the  sovereignty  divided  among  them,  those 
that  were  advanced  in  years  and  honours,  after  nearly  two  years 
from  the  persecution,  abdicated  the  government,  as  we  have 
already  shown  ;  and  thus  passing  their  days  in  common  and  re- 
tired life,  ended  their  life  in  the  following  manner. — The  one, 
indeed,  who  preceded  the  others  in  honour  and  age,  was  at 
length  overpowered  by  a  long  and  distressing  disease,  but  the 
next  to  him  in  dignity  destroyed  himself  by  strangling,  suffer- 
ing thus  according  to  certain  dsemoniacal  prognostics,  on  ac- 
count of  the  innumerable  crimes  that  he  had  committed.  But 
of  the  two  after  these,  the  last,  whom  we  have  mentioned  as  the 
leader  of  the  whole  persecution,  suffered  such  things  as  we  have 
already  stated.  But  he  that  surpassed  them  all  in  kindness  and 
condescension,  the  emperor  Constantius,  who  had  conducted  his 
government  the  whole  time  consistently  with  the  imperial  dig 
nity,  and  who  exhibited  himself  a  most  gracious  and  benevolent 
prince  in  other  respects,  also,  had  no  hand  in  raising  the  perse 
cution  against  us,  but  even  protected  and  patronised  tliose  pious 
persons  that  were  under  him.  He  neither  demolished  the  build- 
ings of  the  churches,  nor  devised  any  thing  in  opposition  to  us ; 

*  The  two  sections  that  here  follow,  are  regarded  as  supplementary  to  the  work. 
The  first  being  an  Appendix  to  the  eighth  Book,  and  the  following  one  a  preliminary 
to  the  Book  of  Martyrs.  The  statements  at  the  head  of  each  are  from  some  of 
the  copyists,  as  thev  are  found  in  the  most  approved  manuscripts. 

02 


i^V 


348  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  finally  enjoyed  a  death  really  happy  and  blessed,  being  the 
only  one  of  the  four  that  in  the  midst  of  a  tranquil  and  glorious 
reign,  at  his  death,  transmitted  the  government  to  his  own  son 
as  his  successor,  a  prince  most  eminent  in  all  respects  for  his 
wisdom  and  piety.  He,  at  the  very  beginning,  was  proclaimed 
supreme  emperor  and  Augustus,  by  the  armies,  and  exhibited 
himself  a  generous  rival  of  his  father's  piety,  with  regard  to  us. 
Such  then,  was  the  issue  of  the  life  of  the  four  emperors,  at  dif- 
ferent times.  Of  these  the  only  one  that  yet  left  the  abovemen- 
tined  confession,  was  he  whom  we  mentioned  above,  together 
with  those  whom  he  had  afterwards  associated  with  him  in  the 
government,  which  confession  also,  he  sent  abroad  in  his  procla- 
mation to  all. 


The  following  ive  also  found  appended  to  the  eighth  Book. 

Tms  was  the  eighth  year  of  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  in  the 
month  of  Xanthicus,  which  one  would  call  April  according  to  the 
Romans,  about  the  time  when  the  paschal  festival  of  our  Sa- 
viour took  place,  when  Flavianus  was  governor  of  Palestine. 
Suddenly  edicts  were  published  every  where  to  raze  the  churches 
to  the  ground,  and  to  destroy  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  the  flames, 
to  strip  those  that  were  in  honour  of  their  dignities,  and  to  de- 
prive the  freedmen  of  their  liberty  if  any  persisted  in  the  Chris- 
tian profession.  Such  was  the  first  violence  of  this  edict  against 
us ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  other  mandates  were  issued,  in 
which  it  was  ordered  that  the  prelates  of  the  churches  should 
first  be  cast  into  prison  everywhere,  and  then  compelled  by  every 
artifice  to  offer  the  sacrifice. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MARTYRS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Procopius,  Alplteus,  and  Zaccheus. 

The  first,  therefore,  of  the  martyrs  of  Palestine,  was  Procopius, 
who,  before- he  was  tried  by  imprisonment,  was  immediately  at 
the  beginning  arraigned  before  the  tribunal  of  the  governor. 
When  commanded  to  sacrifice  to  those  called  gods,  he  declared 
that  he  knew  but  one,  to  whom  it  was  proper  to  sacrifice,  as  He 
himself  had  commanded  ;  but  when  he  was  ordered  to  make 
libations  to  the  four  emperors,  he  uttered  a  sentence  which  did 
not  please  them,  and  was  immediately  beheaded.  The  sentence 
was  from  the  poet:  "A  plurality  of  sovereigns  is  not  good,  let 
there  be  but  one  prince  and  one  sovereign  Lord."*  This  hap- 
pened on  the  eighth  of  the  month  Desius,  or  as  one  would  sav 
with  the  Romans,  the  seventh  before  the  Idesf  of  June,  the  fourth 
day  of  the  week.  This  was  the  first  signal  that  was  given  at 
Cesarea  in  Palestine.  After  him  many  bishops  in  the  same  city, 
of  the  provincial  churches,  cheerfully  struggled  with  dreadful  tor- 
tures, and  exhibited  noble  specimens  of  mighty  conflicts.  Some 
indeed,  from  excessive  dread,  broken  down  and  overpowered  by 
their  terrors,  sunk  and  gave  way  immediately  at  the  first  onset, 
but  each  of  the  rest  experienced  various  kinds  of  torture.  Some 
were  scourged  with  innumerable  strokes  of  the  lash,  others  rack- 
ed in  their  limbs  and  galled  in  their  sides  with  torturing  instru- 
ments, some  with  intolerable  fetters,  by  which  the  joints  of  their 

*The  words  of  Ulysses,  in  the  Iliad,  book  ii.  line  208.  Oux  ay^iov  jroxuxo.pxv.ii. 
Sentences  from  Homer  were  among  the  proverbs  of  the  day.  The  same  passage 
was  on  a  certain  occasion  repeated  by  Domitian.  See  his  Life  by  Suetonius,  ch.  13. 

■j-  The  Romans  had  three  divisions  of  the  month,  Calends,  Nones,  and  Idos,  and 
in  marking  the  days  they  counted  backwards.  For  the  days  given  here,  see  any  ta- 
bular view  of  the  Roman  calendar. 

349 


350  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

hands  were  dislocated.  Nevertheless  they  bore  the  event,  as 
regulated  by  the  secret  determinations  of  God.  One  was  seized 
'by  the  hands,  and  led  to  the  altar  by  others  who  were  thrusting  tlie 
polluted  and  unhallowed  victim  into  his  right  hand,  and  then  suf- 
fered to  go  again  as  if  he  had  sacrificed.  Another,  though  he  had 
not  even  touched,  when  others  said  that  he  had  sacrificed,  went 
away  in  silence.  Another  was  taken  up  half  dead,  and  cast  out 
as  already  dead,  and  was  released  from  his  bonds,  and  ranked, 
among  the  sacrificers.  Another  crying  out,  and  asserting  that  he 
did  not  assent  to  these  things,  was  struck  on  the  mouth ;  and  thus 
silenced  by  the  many  blows  of  those  that  were  subca'ned  for  this 
purpose,  was  thrust  away  by  violence,  although  he  had  never 
sacrificed.  So  much  was  it  valued  by  them,  for  one  upon  the 
whole  only  to  appear  to  have  performed  their  desire.  Of  these 
therefore,  so  many  in  number,  only  Alphcus*  and  Zaccheus  were 
honoured,  with  the  crown  of  the  holy  martyrs,  who  after  scourg- 
ing and  scraping  with  iron  hooks,  and  severe  bonds,  and  the  tor- 
tures consequent  on  these,  and  other  different  tortures  on  the 
rack,  having  their  feet  stretched  a  night  and  day,  to  the  fourth 
hole  of  the  stocks,  were  at  length  beheaded  on  the  seventeenth 
day  of  the  month  Dius,  the  same  that  is  called  the  fifteenth  of 
the  Calends  of  December.  Thus  for  confessing  the  only  God 
and  Jesus  Christ  the  only  king,  they  suflfered  martyrdom  with 
the  former  martyr,  just  as  if  they  had  uttered  some  dreadful 
blasphemy. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  martyr  Romanus. 


Worthy  of  record,  also,  are  the  circumstances  respecting  Ro- 
manus, which  occurred  on  the  same  day  at  Antioch.     He  was  a 

*  The  names  of  some  of  these  martyrs  are  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  old  calen- 
dars. Thus  Alpheus  is  found  on  the  17th  of  November,  corresponding  to  the  date 
here  given.  Others  may  be  found  in  the  same  way.  The  names  of  some  have  in 
the  lapse  of  time  given  way  to  others. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  mSTORY.  351 

native  of  Palestine,  a  deacon  and  exorcist,  of  the  church  at  Ce- 
sarea,  and  was  present  at  the  demoUtion  of  the  churches  there,- 
and  as  he  saw  many  men  with  women  and  children  approaching 
the  idols  in  masses,  and  sacrificing,  considering  the  sight  intole- 
rable, and  stimulated  by  a  zeal  for  religion,  he  cried  out  with  a 
loud  voice,  and  reproved  them.  But  he  was  immediately  seized 
for  his  boldness,  and  proved,  if  any,  to  be  a  most  noble  witness  of 
the  truth.  When  the  judge  had  informed  him  that  he  was  to  die 
by  the  flames,  with  a  cheerful  countenance  and  a  most  ardent 
mind,  he  received  the  sentence,  and  was  led  away.  He  was  then 
tied  to  the  stake,  and  when  the  wood  was  heaped  up  around  him, 
and  they  were  about  kindling  the  pile,  only  awaiting  the  w^ord  from 
the  expected  emperor,  he  exclaimed,  "  where  then  is  the  fire  ?" 
Saying  this,  he  was  summoned  again  before  the  emperor,  to  be  sub- 
jected to  new  tortures,  and  therefore  had  his  tongue  cut  out,  which 
he  bore  with  the  greatest  fortitude,  as  he  proved  in  his  actions  to 
all,  showing  also  that  the  power  of  God  is  always  present  to  the 
aid  of  those  who  are  obliged  to  bear  any  hardship  for  the  sake 
of  religion,  to  lighten  their  labours,  and  to  strengthen  their  ar- 
dour. When,  therefore,  he  learned  the  novel  mode  of  punishment, 
the  heroic  man  by  no  means  alarmed,  readily  thrust  out  his 
tongue  and  offered  it  with  the  greatest  alacrity  to  those  who  cut  it 
out.  After  this  he  was  cast  into  bonds,  and  having  suffered  there 
a  very  long  time,  at  length  when  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  the 
emperor  was  at  hand,  according  to  an  established  usage  of 
granting  liberty  every  where  to  those  that  were  kept  in  prison,  he 
alone  had  his  feet  stretched  to  the  fifth  hole  in  the  stocks,  lying 
upon  the  very  wood  with  a  halter  round  his  neck,  was  adorned 
with  martyrdom,  according  to  his  earnest  desire.  This  one, 
though  he  suflfered  beyond  his  country,  yet  as  a  native  of  Pales- 
tine deserved  to  be  ranked  among  the  martyrs  of  Palestine. 
These  were  the  events  that  occurred  of  this  description  in  the 
first  year  of  the  persecution,  as  it  was  then  excited  only  against 
the  prelates  of  the  church. 
32* 


-.t' 


352  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER    HI. 

Timoilieus,  Agapius,  Tliecla,  and  eight  others. 

Ijf  the  course  of  the  second  year,  when  the  war  was  blazing 
more  violently  against  us,  when  Urbanus  had  the  government  of 
the  province,  imperial  edicts  were  first  issued  to  him,  in  which  it 
was  ordered  by  a  general  command,  that  all  persons  of  every 
people  and  city  should  sacrifice  and  make  libations  to  the  idols. 
Timotheus,  at  Gaza,  a  city  of  Palestine,  endured  a  multitude  of 
tortures,  and  after  the  rest  was  condemned  to  be  consumed  by  a 
slow  and  gentle  fire,  exhibiting  in  all  his  sufferings  a  most  indubit- 
able proof  of  his  sincere  devoted  ness  to  God,  and  thus  bore  away 
the  crown  of  those  holy  wrestlers  who  ti'iumphed  in  the  cause 
of  piety.  At  the  same  time  with  him  were  condemned  to  be 
cast  to  the  wild  beasts,  Agapius,  w^ho  displayed  the  noblest 
firmness  in  his  confession,  and  Thecla,  our  contemporary.*  But 
who  could  help  being  struck  with  admiration  and  astonishment 
at  the  sight,  or  even  at  the  very  recital  of  those  things  that  then 
occurred  ?  For,  as  the  heathen  in  every  place  were  on  the  point 
of  celebrating  their  accustomed  games  and  festivals,  it  was  much 
noised  abroad,  that  besides  the  other  exhibitions  with  which  they 
were  so  greatly  captivated,  those  that  were  just  condemned  to 
the  wild  beasts  would  exhibit  a  combat.  This  report  being  in- 
creased, and  spreading  among  all,  there  were  six  young  men, 
who,  first  binding  their  hands,  hastened  with  all  speed  to  Urba- 
nus, to  prove  their  great  alacrity  to  endure  martyrdom,  who  was 
then  going  to  the  amphitheatre,  and  declared  themselves  Chris- 
tians. The  names  of  these  were  Timolaus,  a  native  of  Pontus, 
Dionysius  of  Tripolis  in  Phcenice,  Romulus  a  subdeacon  of  the 
church  at  Diospolis,  Paesis  and  Alexander,  both  Egyptians; 
another  Alexander  from  Gaza.  These,  by  their  great  prompt- 
ness in  the  face  of  all  terrors,  proved  that  they  gloried  in  the 

*  Eusebius  seems  to  add  "  our  contemporary,"  to  distinguish  this  Thecla  from 
the  companion  of  St.  Paul,  mentioned  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  3» 

worship  of  the  true  God,  and  were  not  alarmed  at  the  assaults  of 
beasts  of  prey ;  and,  indeed,  both  the  governor  and  those  around 
hinn  were  amazed.  They  were,  however,  immediately  commit- 
ted to  prison.  Not  many  days  after,  tv.o  others  were  added  to 
their  number,  of  whom  one  had  already  before  sustained  the 
conflict  of  confession  several  times,  under  a  variety  of  dreadful 
torments ;  he  was,  also,  called  Agapius,  but  the  other  who  sup- 
plied them  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  was  named  Dionysius. 
All  these,  eight  in  number,  were  beheaded  in  one  day  at  Cesarea, 
on  the  twenty-third  day  of  the  month  Dystrus,  that  is,  the  ninth 
of  the  calends  of  April.  In  the  mean  time,  a  certain  change 
took  place  with  the  emperors,  the  first  and  the  second  in  the  im- 
perial dignity  retiring  to  private  life,  and  public  affairs  began  to 
wear  a  troubled  aspect.  Shortly  after,  the  Roman  empire  was 
divided,  and  a  dreadful  civil  war  arose  among  the  Romans  them- 
selves ;  nor  did  the  schism  cease,  nor  the  consequent  commotions 
become  finally  settled,  before  peace  was  proclaimed  toward  us 
throughout  the  whole  Roman  world.  For  as  soon  as  this  arose 
like  a  light  upon  all,  springing  up  from  the  densest  and  most 
gloomy  night,  the  government  was  again  restored  to  firmness, 
tranquillity,  and  peace,  and  they  resumed  that  benevolent  disposi- 
tion towards  one  another,  which  they  had  derived  from  their  an- 
cestoi-s.  But  of  these  matters  w^e  shall  give  a  more  full  account  in 
its  proper  place.  Now  let  us  pursue  the  thread  of  our  narrative 
in  due  order. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Apphianus. 


Maximinus  Cesar,  who  w^as  afterwards  raised  to  the  govern- 
ment, as  if  to  exhibit  the  evidences  of  his  innate  hatred  to  God 
and  his  aversion  to  piety,  armed  himself  to  persecute  with  greater 
violence  than  those  before  him.  Hence,  as  there  was  no  little 
confusion  raised  among  all,  some  scattered  here  and  others  there, 
and  endeavouring  by  all  means  to  escape  the  danger;  and  as 
2  Y 


354  ECCLESIASTICAL  'HISTORY. 

there  was  the  greatest  tumult  throughout  the  empire,  what  de- 
scription would  suffice  to  give  a  faithful  account  of  that  divine 
love  and  that  freedom  of  confession,  that  distinguisiied  the  martyr 
Apphianus,  that  blessed  and  truly  innocent  lamb?  He  was  scarce- 
ly twenty  years  old,  when  he  presented  a  wonderful  instance  of 
solid  piety  toward  the  one  only  God,  as  a  kind  of  spectacle  to  all 
before  the  gates  of  Cesarea.  And  first  when  for  tlie  purpose  of 
pursuing  Greek  literature,  as  he  was  of  a  very  wealthy  family, 
he  passed  the  most  of  his  time  at  Berytus,  it  is  wonderful  to 
tell  how  in  the  midst  of  such  a  city,  notwithstanding  the  entice- 
ments of  youthful  passions,  he  was  superior  to  all,  and  v.-as  neither 
corrupted  in  his  morals  by  the  vigour  of  his  body,  nor  his  asso- 
ciation with  young  men,  but  embraced  a  modest  and  sober  life, 
walking  honestly  and  piously,  and  regulating  his  conversation 
as  one  who  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  V/ere  it  neces- 
sary to  mention  his  country,  and  thus  to  celebrate  the  place  thai 
gave  birth  to  so  noble  a  wrestler  in  the  cause  of  religion,  we 
shall  cheerfully  do  also  this.  Pagas,  a  city  of  Lycia,  of  no  mean 
account,  and  which  may  be  known  to  some  of  my  readers,  was 
the  place  whence  this  youth  derived  his  origin.  After  his  return 
from  his  studies  at  Berytus,  though  his  father  held  the  first  rank 
in  his  country,  being  xmable  to  bear  dwelling  with  his  father  and 
the  rest  of  his  kindred,  because  they  did  not  approve  of  living 
according  to  the  laws  of  piety,  as  if  impelled  by  the  divine  Spirit 
and  by  a  kind  of  natural,  rather  say  an  inspired  and  genuine, 
philosophy,  deeming  it  better  than  what  is  considered  glory  in  life, 
and  despising  the  soft  pleasures  of  the  body,  he  secretly  fled  from 
his  friends.  And  without  any  concern  for  his  daily  expenses,  in 
his  trust  and  faith  in  God,  he  was  conducted  as  if  led  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  the  city  of  Cesarea,  where  was  prepared  for  him  the 
crown  of  martyrdom,  for  his  piety.  Having  associated  with  us 
there,  and  having  studied  the  holy  Scriptures  as  much  as  could 
be  for  a  short  time,  and  having  prepared  himself  most  cheerfully 
by  the  proper  exercises  and  discipline,  he  finally  made  so  illus- 
trious an  end,  as  could  not  be  witnessed  again  without  amaze- 
ment. 

Who  could  listen  without  wonder  to  the  freedom  with  which 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  335 

he  spoke,  behold  his  firmness,  and  before  this,  tlie  courage  and 
the  energy  of  this  youth,  who  gave  evidence  of  a  zeal  for  piety 
and  a  spirit  more  than  human?  For  when  a  second  excite- 
ment was  raised  against  us  by  Maximinus,  in  the  third  year  of 
the  persecution,  and  the  edicts  of  the  tyrant,  to  this  effect  were 
first  issued,  that  all  persons  every  where  should  publicly  offer 
sacrifices,  and  that  the  rulers  of  the  cities  should  see  to  this  with 
all  care  and  diligence,  when  the  heralds  also  were  proclaiming 
throughout  all  Cesarea,  that  men  women  and  children  should 
come  to  the  temples  of  the  idols,  at  the  command  of  the  gover- 
nor ;  and  moreover,  the  military  tribunes  were  calling  upon  each 
one  by  name,  from  a  list,  and  the  heathen  were  rushing  in  an 
immense  crowd  from  every  quarter,  this  youth  fearlessly  and  with- 
out imparting  his  purpose  to  any,  stealing  away  from  us  who 
dwelt  in  the  same  house,  and  unobserved  by  the  military  band 
around  the  governor,  approached  Urbanus  who  happened  then 
to  be  making  libations.  Fearlessly  seizing  his  right  hand,  he  sud- 
denly interrupted  him  in  the  act  of  sacrificing.  Then  he  coun- 
selled and  exhorted  him  in  a  solemn  and  serious  tone  to  abandon 
his  error,  saying  it  was  not  right  that  we  should  desert  the  one 
only  and  true  God,  to  sacrifice  to  idols  and  dfemons.  This  was 
done  by  the  youth,  as  is  very  probable,  under  the  impulse  of  a 
divine  power,  which  by  this  deed  gave  a  kind  of  audible  testi- 
mony, that  the  Christians,  those  to  wit  that  were  really  such, 
w^ere  so  far  from  abandoning  the  religion  which  they  had  once 
embraced,  that  they  were  not  only  superior  to  all  the  threatened 
dangers,  and  the  punishments  consequent  on  these ;  but  over  and 
above  this,  acted  with  still  greater  freedom,  and  declared  them- 
selves with  a  noble  and  fearless  utterance,  and  were  it  possible 
that  their  persecutors  could  be  delivered  from  their  ignorance, 
even  exhorted  them  to  acknowledge  the  one  only  and  true  God. 
After  this,  he  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected in  the  case  of  an  act  so  daring,  was  immediately  seized 
and  torn  by  the  soldiers  like  ravenous  beasts,  and  after  suffering 
most  heroically  innumerable  stripes  on  his  whole  body,  was  cast 
into  prison  until  further  orders.  There,  being  stretched  by  the 
tormentor  with  both  feet  a  night  and  day,  on  the  rack,  he  was 


356  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  next  day  brought  to  the  judge,  and  when  force  was  applied 
to  make  him  sacrifice,  he  exhibited  an  invincible  fortitude  in 
bearing  pain  and  horrid  tortures.  His  sides  were  not  only  once 
or  twice,  but  often  furrowed  and  scraped  to  the  very  bones  and 
bowels,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  beaten  with  so  many  blows 
on  the  face  and  neck,  that  by  reason  of  his  bruised  and  swollen 
face,  he  was  no  more  recognised  by  those  who  had  know^n  him 
well.  But  as  he  did  not  yield  even  to  this,  they  covered  his 
feet  with  linen  steeped  in  oil,  and  at  the  command  of  the  gover- 
nor the  tormentors  applied  fire  to  these.  The  sufferings  which 
this  blessed  youth  then  endured,  seems  to  me  to  exceed  all  power 
of  description.  The  fire,  after  consuming  his  flesh,  penetrated 
to  the  bones,  so  that  the  humours  of  the  body,  liquefied  like  wax, 
fell  in  drops;  but  as  he  did  not  yield  even  to  this,  his  antagonists 
being  defeated,  and  now  only  at  a  loss  to  account  for  his  more 
than  human  perseverance,  he  was  again  committed  to  prison.  At 
last  he  was  summoned  the  third  day  before  the  judge  again,  and 
still  declaring  his  fixed  purpose  in  the  profession  of  Christ,  already 
half  dead,  he  was  thrown  into  the  sea  and  drowned. 
, ,  |What  happened  immediately  after  this,  would  scarcely  be 
credited  by  any  who  had  not  seen  with  his  own  eyes.  But  not- 
;  jlyithstanding  this,  we' cannot  but  record  the  events,  as  we  may 
r^feay,  all  the  inhabitants  of  Cesarea  were  witnesses  of  the  fact. 
The^^e  was  no  age  that  was  not  present  at  this  wonderful  sight 
As  soon  as  this  really  blessed  -and  holy  youth  was  cast  into  the 
deepest  parts  of  the  sea,  suddenly  a  roaring  and  uncommon 
crashing  sound,  pervaded  not  only  the  sea  but  the  whole  sur- 
rounding heavens.  So  that  the  earth  and  the  whole  city  was 
shaken  by  it.  i\.nd  at  the  same  time  with  this  wonderful  and 
sudden  shaking,  the  body  of  the  divine  martyr  was  cast  by  the 
sea  before  the  gates  of  the  city,  as  if  unable  to  bear  it.  And 
such  was  the  martyrdom  of  the  excellent  Apphianus,  on  the 
second  day  of  the  month  Xanthicus,  or,  Roman  style,  the  fourth 
of  the  nones  of  April,  on  the  day  of  the  preparation,  or  Friday. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  357 

CHAPTER    V. 

The  martyrs  Ulpian  and  Mdesius. 

But  about  the  same  time,  and  in  those  very  days,  there  was  a 
young  man  named  Ulpianus,  at  the  city  of  Tyre,  who  also,  after 
dreadful  torments,  and  the  most  severe  scourgings,  was  sown  in  a 
raw  bull's  hide,  together  with  a  dog  and  poisonous  asp,  and 
thrown  into  the  sea.  Hence,  also,  he  appears  deservedly  to 
claim  a  place  among  the  martyrdoms  noticed  with  Apphianus. 
A  short  time  after,  very  much  the  same  sufferings  were  endured 
by  iEdesius,  who  was  the  own  brother  of  Apphianus,  not  only  in 
the  flesh  but  in  God,  after  innumerable  confessions,  and  pro- 
tracted torments  in  bonds,  after  being  repeatedly  condemned  by 
the  judges  to  the  mines  in  Palestine,  and  after  a  life  and  con- 
versation, in  which,  amid  all  these  circumstances,  his  garb  and 
his  deportment  was  that  of  a  philosopher.  He  had,  also,  en- 
joyed an  education  still  more  finished  than  his  brother,  and 
had  studied  the  different  branches  of  philosophy.  When  he 
saw  the  judge  at  Alexandria,  condemning  the  Christians  there, 
and  rioting  beyond  all  bounds,  sometimes  insulting  grave  and 
decent  men  in  various  ways,  sometimes  consigning  females  of  > 
the  greatest  modesty,  and  virgins  who  had  devoted  themselves  to'"^ 
the  duties  of  religion,  to  panders,  to  endure  every  kind  of  afcuse 
and  obscenity,  on  seeing  this  he  made  an  attempt  similar  to  that 
of  his  brother.  As  these  things  appeared  insufferable,  he  drew 
near  with  determined  resolution  to  the  judge,  and  with  his  words 
and  acts  covered  him  with  shame.  For  this  he  courageously 
endured  multiplied  forms  of  torment,  and  was  finally  honoured 
with  his  brother's  death,  and  cast  into  the  sea.  But  this,  as  I 
before  said,  happened  in  the  way  here  related,  a  short  time  after 
the  death  of  the  former. 


358  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTEPw   VI. 

The  martyr  Agapius. 

But  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  persecution,  on  the  twelfth  of  the 
calends  of  December,  which  would  be  on  the  twentieth  of  the 
month  of  Dius,  on  the  day  before  the  Sabbath,  Friday,  in  the  same 
city  of  Cesarea,  occurred  what  was  eminently  worthy  of  record. 
This  happened  in  the  presence  of  the  tyrant  Maximinus,  who  was 
gratifying  the  multitudes, with  public  shows,  on  the  day  that  was 
called  his  birthday.  As  it  was  an  ancient  practice  when  the  em- 
perors were  present,  to  exhibit  splendid  shows  then,  if  at  any 
time,  and  for  the  greater  amusement  of  the  spectators,  to  collect 
new  and  strange  sights,  in  place  of  those  customary;  either 
animals  from  some  parts  of  India,  Ethiopia,  or  elsewhere ;  some- 
times, also,  men  who,  by  artificial  dexterities  of  the  body,  ex- 
hibited singular  spectacles  of  adroitness,  and  to  complete  the 
whole,  as  it  was  an  emperor  that  exhibited  the  spectacles  at 
this  time,  it  was  necessary  to  have  something  more  than  common 
and  singular,  in  the  preparation  of  these  games ;  (and  what  then 
should  this  be  ?)  one  of  our  martyrs  was  led  forth  into  the  arena 
to  endure  the  contest  for  the  one  and  only  true  religion.  This 
was  Agapius,  who  we  have  already  said  had  been  thrown,  to- 
gether with  Thecla,  to  the  wdld  beasts.  After  being  paraded 
with  malefactors,  from  the  prison  to  the  stadium,  already  a  third 
time  and  often,  and  after  various  threats  from  the  judges,  whether 
through  compassion,  or  out  of  hope  of  changing  his  purpose,  had 
been  deferred  from  time  to  time  for  other  contests ;  at  length, 
when  the  emperor  was  present  he  was  led  forth.  As  if  he  had 
been  designedly  reserved  for  that  time,  and  that  also  the  decla- 
ration of  our  Saviour  might  be  fulfilled,  which  he  declared  to  his 
disciples  in  his  divine  foreknowledge,  that  they  would  be  led  be- 
fore kings,  for  the  sake  of  confessing  him.  He  was  brought, 
therefore,  into  the  stadium,  with  a  certain  criminal,  who  they 
said  was  charged  with  killing  his  master.  This  latter  one  then, 
the  murderer,  when  cast  to  the  beasts,  was  honoured  with  cle 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  359 

mency  and  mercy,  not  unlike  the  manner  in  wliich  Barnabas 
was  in  our  Saviour's  time.  Hence  tlie  whole  theatre  resounded 
with  applauses,  that  the  blood-stained  homicide  was  so  humanely 
saved  by  the  emperor,  and  was  moreover  honoured  with  liberty 
and  dignity.  But  this  wrestler  of  piety  was  first  summoned  by 
the  tyrant,  then  demanded  to  renounce  his  purpose  with  the  pro- 
mise of  liberty.  With  a  loud  voice  he  declared,  that  he  would 
cheerfully  and  with  pleasure  sustain  whatever  he  might  inflict 
on  him  ;  not  indeed,  for  any  wickedness,  but  for  his  veneration  of 
the  God  of  the  universe.  Saying  this,  he  combined  actions  with 
his  words,  and  rushing  against  a  bear  let  loose  upon  him,  he  most 
readily  offered  himself  to  be  devoured  by  the  beast,  after  which 
he  was  taken  up  yet  breathing,  and  carried  to  prison.  Surviving 
yet  one  day,  he  had  stones  bound  to  his  feet,  and  thus  was  plunged 
into  the  midst  of  the  sea.  Such  then  was  the  martyrdom  of 
Agapius. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  martyrs  Theodosia,  Domninus,  and  Auxentius. 

The  persecution  had  now  been  extended  to  the  fifth  year, 
when  on  the  second  of  the  month  Xanthicus,  that  is  the  fourth 
of  the  nones  of  April,  on  the  very  day  of  our  Lord's  resurrection, 
again  at  Cesarea  a  virgin  of  Tyre,  Theodosia  by  name,  not  yet 
eighteen  years  old,  but  distinguished  for  her  faith  and  virtue,  ap- 
proached some  prisoners,  confessors  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
seated  before  the  judgment  seat,  with  a  view  to  salute  them, 
and  as  is  probable,  with  a  view  to  entreat  them  to  remember 
her  when  they  should  come  before  the  Lord.  Whilst  she  was 
doing  this,  as  if  it  were  some  impious  and  atrocious  deed,  she  was 
seized  by  the  soldiers,  and  led  away  to  the  commander.  Pre- 
sently, merciless  and  savage  as  he  was,  he  had  her  tortured  with 
dreadful  and  horrific  cruelties,  furrowing  her  sides  and  breasts 
with  instruments  even  to  the  very  bones,  and  whilst  yet  breath- 
ing, and  with  all  exhibiting  a  cheerful  and  joyous  countenance, 
33 


360  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

he  orders  her  to  be  cast  into  the  sea.  Proceeding  next  from 
her  to  the  other  confessors,  he  consigned  them  all  to  the  mines 
at  Phceno  in  Palestine.  After  this,  on  the  fifth  of  the  month 
Dius,  on  the  nones  of  November,  Roman  style,  in  the  same  city, 
Silvanus,  who  was  yet  a  presbyter,  became  a  confessor,  and  not 
long  after  he  was  both  honoured  with  the  episcopate,  and  finally 
crowned  with  martyrdom.  The  same  judge  condemned  those 
who  exhibited  the  noblest  firmness  in  the  cause  of  piety,  to  la- 
bour in  the  same  mines,  having  first  ordered  their  ancles  to  be 
disabled  by  searing  with  red  hot  irons.  At  the  same  time  that 
this  sentence  was  passed,  he  ordered  one  who  had  rendered  him- 
self illustrious  on  innumerable  occasions  of  confession,  to  be  com- 
mitted to  the  flames.  This  was  Domninus,  well  known  to  all  in 
Palestine,  for  his  great  freedom.  After  which,  this  judge,  who 
was  a  terrible  inventor  of  miseries,  and  particularly  ingenious  in 
new  devices  against  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  planned  torments 
against  the  Christians,  such  as  had  never  before  been  heard  of. 
He  condemned  three  to  pugilistic  combat ;  but  Anxentius,  a  grave 
and  holy  presbyter,  he  ordered  to  be  cast  to  the  beasts,  others 
who  had  reached  the  age  of  maturity,  he  made  eunuchs,  and  con- 
demned them  to  the  mines ;  others  again,  after  dreadful  tortures, 
he  cast  into  prison.  Among  these  was  Pamphilus  that  dearest* 
of  my  friends  and  associates,  a  man  who  for  every  virtue  was 
the  most  illustrious  martyr  of  our  times.  Urbanus  having  first 
made  trial  of  his  skill  in  the  art  of  rhetoric,  and  the  studies  of 
philosophy,  after  this  attempted  to  force  him  to  offer  sacrifice. 
When  he  saw  him  refusing,  and  not  even  regarding  his  threats,  at 
last  becoming  transported  with  rage,  he  orders  him  to  be  tortured 
with  more  excruciating  pains.  Then  this  monster  in  cruelty  ob- 
stinately and  incessantly  applied  the  instruments,  to  furrow  and 
lacerate  his  sides,  all  but  entering  and  feeding  upon  his  very 
flesh,  and  yet  after  all,  defeated  and  covered  with  shame,  he 
committed  likewise  him  to  those  confessors  in  prison.     But  what 

*  This  is  the  Pamphilus  from  whom  Eusebius  obtaineJ  the  surname  of  Pamphi- 
lus. This,  however,  should  not  be  understood  as  a  surname,  but  as  an  appellation 
indicative  of  attachment  to  his  friend.  It  should  be  written  in  its  original,  Euo-s/Smj 
nx/A^i\(iv,  Eusebius,  the  friend  of  Pamphilus ;  ^i\os  being  understood 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  361 

kind  of  return  this  tormentor  will  receive  at  the  hands  of  divine 
justice,  for  his  cruelties  against  the  saints,  and  after  rioting  to 
such  extent  against  the  confessors  of  Christ,  is  easy  to  conjecture 
from  the  preludes  to  these  judgments  here.  For  immediately 
after  his  crimes  against  Pamphilus,  whilst  he  held  the  govern- 
ment, the  divine  justice  suddenly  overtook  him,  thus.  That  man 
whom  w^e  but  yesterday  saw  judging  on  a  lofty  seat,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  guard  of  soldiers,  and  ruling  over  all  Palestine,  and 
the  associate,  and  favourite,  and  guest  of  the  tyrant,  stripped 
in  a  single  night,  and  divested  of  all  his  honours,  and  covered 
with  disgrace  and  ignominy,  before  those  who  had  courted  him 
as  the  emperor  himself,  him  we  saw  timid  and  cowardly  ut- 
tering cries  and  entreaties  like  a  woman  before  all  the  peopip, 
v/hom  he  had  ruled.  The  same  just  providence  also  made  that 
very  Maximinus  upon  whom  he  so  boastingly  relied,  as  if  he 
loved  him  exceedingly  for  his  dreadful  deeds  against  us  ;  him  1 
say,  in  the  same  city,  the  justice  of  God  erected  into  a  most  re- 
lentless and  cruel  judge,  who  pronounced  sentence  of  death 
against  him,  after  the  numerous  crimes  of  which  he  was  con- 
victed. But  let  this  account  of  him  suffice,  by  the  way.  Perhaps 
a  suitable  occasion  may  oiler,  in  which  we  shall  also  relate  the 
end  of  those  wicked  men  that  were  principally  concerned  in 
waging  war  against  us,  and  also  of  Maximinus  himself,  together 
with  those  of  his  ministers  in  this  work. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Other  confesses;  aho  Valentina  and  Paulus. 

When  the  storm  had  incessantly  raged  against  us  into  the  sixth 
year,  there  had  been  before  this  a  vast  number  of  confessors  of 
true  religion  in  what  is  called  the  Porphyry  quarry,  from  the  name 
of  the  stone  which  is  found  in  Thebais.  Of  these,  one  hundred, 
wanting  three,  men,  women,  and  young  infants,  were  sent  to  the 
2Z 


362  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

governor  of  Palestine,  who,  for  confessing  the  supreme  God  and 
Christ,  had  the  ancles  and  sinews  of  their  left  legs  seared  oif  with 
a  red  hot  iron.  Besides  this  they  had  their  right  eyes  first  cut 
out,  together  with  the  lids  and  pupils,  and  then  seared  with  red 
hot  iron,  so  as  to  destroy  the  eye  to  the  very  roots.  All  this  was 
done  by  the  order  of  Firmilianus,  who  was  sent  thither  as  sue 
cessor  to  Urbanus,  and  acted  in  obedience  to  the  imperial  com 
mand.  After  this  he  committed  them  to  the  mines  in  Palestine, 
to  drag  out  a  miserable  existence  in  constant  toil  and  oppressive 
labour. 

Nor  was  it  enough,  that  those  v/ho  endured  such  miseries  were 
deprived  of  their  eyes,  biit  those  natives  of  Palestine,  also,  whom 
Tfe  have  already  mentioned  as  condemned  to  pugilistic  combats, 
as  they  neither  would  suffer  themselves  to  be  supported  from  the 
imperial  treasury,  nor  undergo  the  exercises  preparatory  to  the 
combat,  hence  they  were  now  brought,  not  only  before  the  go- 
vernors, but  before  Maximinus  himself,  where,  displaying  the 
noblest  firnmess  in  their  confessions,  bv  enduriuoj  hunger  and 
stripes,  they  suffered  finally  the  same  tliat  the  former  did,  with 
the  addition  of  other  confessors  from  the  same  city.  Immedi- 
ately after  these,  others  were  seized,  who  had  assembled  in  the 
city  of  Gaza  to  hear  the  holy  Scriptures  read,  some  of  whom 
suffered  the  same  mutilations  in  their  eyes  and  feet ;  others  were 
obliged  to  endure  still  greater  sufTcrings,  by  having  their  sides 
furrowed  and  scraped  in  the  most  dreadful  manner.  Of  these, 
one  who  was  a  female  in  sex,  but  a  man  in  reason,  not  endurino- 
the  threat  of  violation,  and  having  used  a  certain  expression 
against  the  tyrant,  for  committing  the  government  to  such  cruel 
judges,  she  was  first  scourged,  then  raised  on  high  on  the  rack, 
was  lacerated  and  galled  in  the  sides.  But  as  those  who  were 
appointed  for  this  incessantly  and  vehemently  applied  the  tor- 
tures according  to  the  orders  of  the  judge,  another  woman  who, 
like  the  former,  had  contemplated  a  life  of  perpetual  virginity, 
though  ordinary  in  bodily  form,  and  common  in  appearance,  yet 
possessing  a  mind  otherwise  firm,  and  an  understanding  superior 
to  her  sex,  was  unable  to  bear  the  merciless,  cruel,  and  inhuman 
scene  before  her,  and  with  a  courage  exceeding  all  the  far-famed 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  363 

combatants  among  the  Greeks  for  tiieir  libert}',  she  exclaimed 
against  the  judge,  from  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  "  And  how  long, 
then,  will  you  thus  cruelly  torture  my  sister  ?'  He,  the  more 
bitterly  incensed  by  this,  ordered  the  woman  immediately  to  be 
seized.  She  was  then  dragged  into  the  midst,  and  after  she  had 
called  herself  by  the  august  name  of  our  Saviour,  attempts  were 
first  made  to  bring  her  over  to  sacrifice  by  persuasion.  But 
when  she  refused,  she  was  dragged  to  the  altar  by  force.  But 
her  sister  remaining  the  same,  and  still  adhering  to  her  purpose, 
with  a  resolute,  intrepid  step,  she  kicked  the  altar,  and  over- 
turned all  on  it,  together  wdth  the  fire.  Upon  this,  the  judge,  ex- 
asperated, like  a  savage  beast,  applied  tortures  beyond  all  that 
he  had  done  before,  all  but  glutting  himself  with  her  very  flesh, 
by  the  wounds  and  lacerations  of  her  body.  But  when  his  mad- 
ness was  gratified  to  satiety,  he  bound  her  and  the  former,  whom 
she  called  sister,  together,  and  condemned  them  to  the  flames. 
The  former  of  these  was  said  to  be  of  Gaza,  but  the  other,  Valen- 
tina  by  name,  was  a  native  of  Cesarea,  and  Well  known  to  many. 
But  how  could  I  sufficiently  describe  the  martyrdom  that  followed 
this,  and  with  which  the  most  blessed  Paulus  was  crowned? 
Who,  indeed,  was  condemned  at  the  same  time  with  these,  under 
one  and  the  same  sentence  of  death.  About  the  time  of  his  ex- 
ecution, he  i-equested  of  the  executioner,  who  was  on  the  point 
of  cutting  off  his  head,  to  allow  him  a  short  space  of  time,  which 
being  granted,  with  a  loud  and  clear  voice,  he  first  interceded 
with  God  in  his  prayers,  imploring  pardon  for  his  fellow-christians, 
and  earnestly  entreating  that  peace  and  liberty  might  be  soon 
granted  them.  Then  he  prayed  for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews 
to  God  through  Christ.  Then  he  proceeded,  in  order,  imploring 
the  same  things  for  the  Samaritans,  and  those  Gentiles  who  were 
in  error  and  ignorance  of  God,  that  they  might  come  to  his  know- 
ledge, and  be  led  to  adopt  the  true  religion,  not  omitting,  or 
neglecting,  to  include  the  mixed  multitude  that  stood  around. 
After  air  these,  oh,  the  great  and  inexpressible  forbearance !  he 
prayed  for  the  judge  that  condemned  him  to  death,  for  the  im- 
perial rulers  themselves,  and  for  him,  too,  that  was  about  to 
sever  his  head  from  his  body,  in  the  hearing  of  him  and  all  pre- 
33* 


S<54  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

sent,  supplicating  the  supreme  God,  not  to  impute  to  them  their 
sin  against  him. 

Praying  thus,  with  a  loud  voice,  and  moving  almost  all  to  com- 
passion and  tears,  as  one  unjustly  slain,  yet  composing  himself, 
and  submitting  his  bare  neck  to  the  stroke  of  the  sword,  he  was 
crowned  with  a  divine  martyrdom  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  the 
month  Panemus,  which  would  be  the  eighth  of  the  calends  of 
August.  And  such  was  the  end  of  these.  But  after  the  lapse 
of  no  long  time,  one  hundred  and  thirty  other  noble  wrestlers  of 
the  Qiristian  faith,  undergoing  the  same  mutilations  of  eyes  and 
feet  with  the  former  in  Egypt ;  some  by  the  order  of  Maximinus 
were  condemned  and  sent  away  to  the  mines  in  Palestine,  others 
to  those  in  Cilicia. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  renewal  of  the  persecution  ivith  greater  violence.     Antoninus, 
Zebina,  Germamis,  and  others. 

After  the  flame  of  persecution  had  relaxed  its  violence  amid 
such  heroic  achievements  of  the  noble  martyrs  of  Christ,  and 
had  been  almost  extinguished  with  the  blood  of  holy  men,  and 
now  some  relief  and  liberty  had  been  granted  to  those  con- 
demned to  labour  in  the  mines  for  Christ's  sake,  and  we  began  to 
breathe  an  air  somewhat  purer,  I  know  not  how,  he  that  had 
received  the  power  to  persecute,  was  again  roused  by  a  new  im- 
pulse against  the  Christians.  Immediately,  therefore,  edicts  were 
issued  against  us  from  Maxim.inus,  every  where  in  the  provinces. 
Governors  and  the  Prsetorian  Prslect,  in  proclamations  and  edicts, 
and  public  ordinances,  urged  the  magistrates  and  generals,  and 
notaries  in  every  city,  to  execute  the  imperial  mandate,  which 
ordained,  that  with  all  speed  the  decayed  temples  of  the  idols 
should  be  rebuilt,  and  that  all  people,  men,  women,  domestics, 
and  even  infants  at  the  breast,  should  sacrifice  and  make  liba- 
tions, and  that  they  should  be  diligently  made  to  taste  of  the  ex- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  365 

ecrable  sacrifices,  that  the  things  for  sale  in  the  markets  should 
be  defiled  with  the  libations  of  victims,  and  that  before  the  baths, 
guards  should  be  stationed,  who  should  pollute  those  that  had 
been  cleansed  in  these,  with  their  execrable  sacrifices.  These 
things  being  thus  performed,  and  our  brethren,  as  was  natural, 
being  from  the  beginning  most  concerned,  and  the  heathen  them- 
selves censuring  the  severity  and  absurdity  of  the  measure,  as 
superfluous  at  best,  for  these  measures  appeared  overbearing  and 
oppressive  even  to  them,  and  as  there  was  a  mighty  storm 
gathering  every  where  upon  them,  again  the  divine  power  of  our 
Saviour  infused  such  courage  and  confidence  into  his  wrestlers, 
that  without  being  drawn  or  even  impelled  by  any  one,  they 
voluntarily  trampled  upon  the  threats  of  such  opponents.  Three, 
therefore,  of  tlie  believers  joining  together,  rushed  upon  the  go- 
vernor, offering  sacrifice,  and  called  upon  him  to  desist  from  his 
error,  for  there  v^as  no  other  God  but  the  Supreme  Creator  and 
maker  of  the  universe.  Then  being  asked  who  they  were,  they 
boldly  confessed  they  were  Christians.  On  this,  Firmilianus,  in  a 
rage,  and  without  inflicting  tortures,  condemns  them  to  capital 
punishment.  Of  these,  one  named  Antoninus  was  a  presbyter, 
another  named  Zebina  was  a  native  of  Eleutheropolis,  the  third 
was  named  Germanus.  They  were  executed  on  the  thirteenth 
of  the  month  Dius,  on  the.  ides  of  November.  On  the  same 
day  Ennathas,  a  woman  of  Scythopolis,  ennobled  also  by  the 
virgin's  fillet,  was  added  as  an  associate  to  them.  She  had  not, 
indeed,  done  what  the  former  had,  but  was  dragged  by  force, 
and  brought  before  the  judge,  and  after  being  scourged,  and  en- 
during dreadful  abuses  which  were  heaped  upon  her  by  Maxys, 
the  tribune  of  the  neighbouring  district,  and  that  without  au- 
thority from  a  higher  power,  a  man  who  was  by  no  means  as 
good  as  his  name,*  a  sanguinary  character  in  other  respects,  ex- 
ceedingly harsh  and  inflexible,  and  in  his  whole  manner  so  really 
fierce  and  violent  that  he  was  in  bad  repute  with  all  that  knew 
him.     This  man,  then,  having  stripped  the  blessed  virgin  of  all 

•  Perhaps  our  author  alludes  to  some  such  signification  as  the  Hebrew  noDD 
refuge,  of  which  Maxys  appears  to  be  a  dcrivalivc. 


366  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

her  clothes,  so  as  to  leave  only  her  body  covered  from  her  loins 
to  her  feet,  but  the  rest  bare,  led  her  about  the  whole  city  of 
Cesarea,  considering  it  a  great  feat  that  he  caused  her  to  be 
driven  about  the  markets  and  beaten  with  thongs  of  hide.  And 
after  all  these  cruelties,  which  she  bore  with  the  greatest  firm- 
ness, she  exhibited  the  same  most  cheei'ful  alacrity,  before  the 
tribunal  of  the  judge  himself,  when  she  was  there  condemned  to 
the  flames.  Whilst  aiming  his  cruelty  and  madness  against  the 
worshippers  of  the  true  God,  he  also  went  beyond  all  the  dic- 
tates of  nature,  not  even  ashamed  to  deny  the  lifeless  bodies  of 
these  holy  men  a  burial.  Night  and  day  he  ordered  the  dead 
bodies  to  be  carefully  watched,  as  they  lay  exposed  in  the  open 
air,  the  food  of  beasts,  and  there  was  no  small  number  of  men 
present  several  days,  of  such  as  attended  to  this  savage  and  bar- 
barous decree,  and  some,  indeed,  were  looking  out  from  their 
posts  of  observation,  as  if  it  were  sometliing  worthy  of  their  zeal 
to  see  that  the  dead  bodies  should  not  be  stolen.  But  wild  beasts, 
and  dogs,  and  carnivorous  birds  of  prey,  scattered  the  human 
limbs  here  and  there  in  all  directions,  and  the  whole  city  around 
was  spread  with  the  entrails  and  bones  of  men,  so  that  nothing 
ever  appeared  more  dreadful  or  horrific,  even  to  those  who  be- 
fore had  been  most  hostile  to  us ;  they  did  not  indeed  so  much 
lament  the  calamity  of  those  against  whom  these  things  were 
done,  as  the  nuisance  against  themselves,  and  the  abuse  heaped 
upon  our  common  nature. 

For  at  the  very  gates  of  the  city  there  was  an  exhibition  pre- 
sented dreadful  beyond  all  description  and  tragic  recital,  human 
flesh  devoured  not  in  one  place  only  but  scattered  over  every 
place ;  for  it  was  said  that  limbs  and  masses  of  flesh,  and  parts 
of  entrails,  were  to  be  seen  even  within  the  gates.  Which  things 
continuing  to  occur  for  many  days,  a  strange  event,  like  the  fol- 
lowing, took  place.  The  air  happened  to  be  clear  and  bright, 
and  the  aspect  of  the  whole  heavens  was  most  serene.  Then, 
suddenly,  from  the  greater  part  of  the  columns  that  supported 
the  public  porticos,  issued  drops  like  tears,  and  the  market  places 
and  streets,  though  there  was  no  moisture  from  the  air,  I  know 
not  whence  it  came,  were  sprinkled  with  water,  and  became 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  367 

wet :  so  that  it  was  immediately  spread  abroad  among  all,  that 
in  an  unaccountable  manner  the  earth  wept,  not  being  able  to 
endure  the  extreme  impiety  of  these  deeds,  and  to  address  a  re- 
proof to  men  of  a  relentless  and  callous  nature,  the  very  stones 
and  senseless  matter  could  bewail  these  facts.  I  well  know  that 
this  account  may,  perhaps,  appear  an  idle  tale  and  fable  to  pos- 
terity, but  it  was  not  so  to  those  who  had  its  truth  confirmed  by 
their  presence  at  the  time.* 


CHAPTER  X.  5^ 

Petrus  Ascetes,  Asclepius  the  Marcionite,  and  oilier  martyrs. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  the  following  month  Apellseus,  ?".  e.  the 
nineteenth  of  the  calends  of  January,  there  were  some  from  Egypt 
again  seized  by  the  spies  appointed  to  observe  those  going  out  at 
the  gates.  They  had  been  sent  for  the  purpose  of  ministering  to 
the  necessities  of  the  confessors  in  CiUcia.  These  experienced 
the  same  lot  with  those  they  came  to  serve,  and  were  thus  muti- 
lated in  their  eyes  and  feet.  Three  of  them,  however,  exhibited 
a  wonderful  fortitude  at  Ascalon,  where  they  were  imprisoned, 
and  bore  away  different  prizes  of  martyrdom.  One  of  them, 
named  Ares,  was  committed  to  the  flames,  the  others,  Promus 
and  Elias,  were  beheaded.  But  on  the  eleventh  of  the  month 
Audynaeus,  i.  e.  on  the  third  of  the  ides  of  January,  in  the  same 
city  of  Cesarea,  Petrus  Ascetes,f  also  called  Apselamus,  from 
the  village  of  Anea,  on  the  boi-ders  of  Eleutheropolis,  like  the 
purest  gold,  with  a  noble  resolution,  gave  the  proof  of  his  faith 
in  the  Christ  of  God.     Disregarding  both  the  judge,  and  those 

•  Perhaps  some  might  smile  at  the  supposed  credulity  of  our  author,  but  the 
miracle  in  this  account  was  not  greater  than  the  malignity,  and  if  man  can  per- 
form miracles  of  vice,  we  can  scarcely  wonder  if  Providence  should  present,  at 
least,  miracles  of  admonition. 

j-  Peter,  called  the  Ascetic,  probably  from  the  extraordinary  severity  of  life  and 
Eelf-denial  that  he  exhibited  so  young. 


368  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

around  him,  that  besought  him  in  many  ways,  only  to  have  com 
passion  on  himself,  and  to  spare  his  youth  and  blooming  years,  he 
preferred  his  hope  in  the  supreme  God  to  all,  and  even  to  life  itself. 
With  him,  also,  was  said  to  be  a  certain  bishop,  named  Asclc- 
pius,  a  follower  of  Marcion's  error,  with  a  zeal  for  piety,  as  he 
supposed,  but  not  according  to  knowledge.  Yet  he  departed  this 
life  on  the  same  funeral  pile. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Pamphilus  and  others. 


The  time  is  now  come  to  relate,  also,  that  great  and  celebrated 
spectacle  exhibited  by  those  who,  in  martyrdom,  were  associated 
with  Pamphilus,  a  name  thrice  dear  to  me.  These  were  twelve, 
who  were  distinguished  by  a  prophetic  and  apostolic  grace,  as 
well  as  number.  Of  these,  the  leader,  and  the  only  one  among 
them,  however,  with  the  dignity  of  presbyter  at  Cesarea,  was 
Pamphilus ;  a  man  who  excelled  in  every  virtue  through  his 
whole  life,  whether  by  a  renunciation  and  contempt  of  the  world, 
by  distributing  his  substance  among  the  needy,  or  by  a  disregard 
of  worldly  expectations,  and  by  a  philosophic  deportment  and 
self-denial.  But  he  was  chiefly  distinguished  above  the  rest  of 
us,  by  his  sincere  devotedness  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  by 
an  indefatigable  industry  in  what  he  proposed  to  accomplish,  by 
his  great  kindness  and  alacrity  t  ^  serve  all  his  relatives,  and  all 
that  approached  him.  The  other  features  of  his  excellence, 
which  deserve  a  more  full  account,  we  have  already  given  in 
a  separate  work  on  his  life,  consisting  of  three  books.  Referring, 
therefore,  those  that  have  a  taste  for  these  things,  and  who  wish 
to  know  them,  to  this  work,  let  us  now  prosecute  the  history 
of  the  martyrs  in  order. 

The  second  after  Pamphilus  that  entered  the  contest  was 
Valens,  deacon  of  the  church  of  iElia,  a  man  dignified  by  his  ve- 
nerable and  hoary  locks,  and  most  august  by  the  very  aspect  of 
his  great  age ;  well  versed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  which 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  369 

he  had  no  superior.  For  ho  had  so  much  of  them  treasured  up 
in  his  memory,  that  lie  did  not  require  to  read  them,  if  he  under- 
took at  any  time  to  repeat  any  parts  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  third  that  was  most  illustrious  among  them,  was  Paul  of 
the  city  of  Jamna,  a  man  most  fervent  in  zeal,  and  ardent  in 
spirit,  who  before  iiis  martyrdom  had  already  passed  through  the 
conflict  of  a  confession  for  the  faith,  by  enduring  the  tortures  of 
searing  with  red  hot  iron.  After  these  had  been  two  whole  years 
in  prison,  the  occasion  of  their  death  was  a  second  arrival  of 
brethren  from  Egypt,  who  also  suffered  martyrdom  with  them. 
These  had  accompanied  the  confessors  in  Cilicia  to  the  mines 
there,  and  were  returning  to  their  homes,  and,  like  the  former, 
at  the  entrance  of  the  city  of  Cesarea,  being  questioned  by  the 
guards  stationed  at  the  gates,  men  of  barbarous  character,  as 
they  did  not  conceal  the  truth,  they  were  immediately  seized  as 
malefactors  caught  in  the  very  act,  and  taken  in  custody.  There 
were  five  in  number.  When  brought  before  the  tyrant,  they  de- 
clared themselves  freely  before  him,  and  were  immediately  com- 
mitted to  prison.  On  the  next  day,  being  the  sixteenth  of  the 
month  Peritisis,  and  the  fourteenth  of  the  calends  of  March,  Ro- 
man style,  these,  according  to  the  decree,  together  with  the  asso- 
ciates of  Pamphilus,  were  conducted  before  the  judge.  He  first 
made  trial  of  the  invincible  firmness  of  the  Egyptians  by  every 
kind  of  torture,  and  by  new  and  various  machinery  invented  for 
the  purpose.  And  first  he  asked  the  chief  of  them,  after  he  had 
practised  these  cruelties  upon  him,  who  he  was ;  when,  instead 
of  his  proper  name,  he  he>  a  him  repeat  some  name  of  the  pro- 
phets, which  was  done  by  them,  if  they  happened  to  have  had 
names  given  them  by  their  parents  from  some  of  the  names  of 
the  idols,  in  which  case  you  would  hear  them  calHng  themselves 
Elias,  and  Jeremiah,  and  Isaiah,  Samuel  and  Daniel ;  thus  exhi- 
biting the  true  and  genuine  Israel  of  God,  as  belonging  to  those 
who  are  the  real  Jews*  (spoken  of  by  the  apostle),  not  only  in 
their  works,  but  also  in  their  proper  names. 


*  The  author  refers  here  to  that  passage  of  the  apostle,  Rom.  ii.  28,  where  he 
draws  the  distinction  between  the  mere  nominal  and  the  real  Jew. 

3A 


S70  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

When  Firmilianus  had  heard  some  name  Hke  this  of  the  mar- 
tyr, and  yet  did  not  understand  the  force  or  import  of  the  name, 
he  next  asked  him  what  was  his  country  ?  He  gave  an  answer 
alHed  to  the  former,  saying  that  Jerusalem  was  his  country,  re- 
ferring to  that  city  of  which  Paul  speaks,  "  but  the  Jerusalem 
above  is  free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all ;"  also  again  :  "  And 
ye  have  come  to  mount  Sion,  and  to  the  city  of  the  living  God, 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,"  and  it  was  this  that  the  martyr  meant 
to  signify.  But  the  judge,  fixed  in  thought  and  cast  down  in  his 
mind,  anxiously  inquired  what  country,  and  in  what  part  of  the 
world  it  was  1  Then  he  also  applied  tortures  to  make  him  con- 
fess the  truth.  But  he,  with  his  hands  twisted  behind  his  back, 
and  his  feet  thrust  into  certain  new  machines,  persevered  in  as- 
serting that  he  had  said  the  truth.  Then,  again,  being  frequently 
asked  what  and  where  that  city  was  that  he  had  mentioned,  he 
said  that  it  was  the  city  of  tlie  pious  only,  for  none  but  these 
were  admitted  to  it ;  but  that  it  lay  to  the  very  east,  and  the  very 
rising  sun.  And  here  again,  the  martyr  in  this  way  philosophized 
according  to  his  own  sense,  paying  no  regard  to  the  tortures 
with  which  he  was  surrounded  ;  but  as  if  he  were  without  flesh 
and  blood,  he  did  not  even  appear  to  be  sensible  of  his  pains.  But 
the  judge  at  a  loss,  was  greatly  perplexed  in  mind,  thinking  that 
the  Christians  were  collectively  about  establishing  a  city  some- 
where in  opposition  and  hostile  to  the  Romans,  and  frequently  in- 
quired where  this  city  was,  and  examined  where  the  country  lay 
towards  the  east.  But  after  he  had  sufficiently  tortured  the  young 
man  with  scourging,  and  lacerated  him  with  many  and  various  tor- 
tures, perceiving  his  mind  unchangeably  fixed  in  his  former  pur- 
pose and  declarations,  he  passed  the  sentence  of  death  against 
him.  Such  then,  was  the  scene  exhibited  in  the  martyrdom  of 
this  one.  The  rest  he  exercised  with  trials  of  a  similar  kind,  and 
finally  destroyed  in  a  similar  manner.  Wearied  at  last,  and 
perceiving  that  it  was  all  in  vain  to  punish  the  men,  and  having 
fully  satiated  his  curiosity,  he  proceeded  against  Pamphilus 
and  his  associates.  But  as  he  had  learned  that  they  had  al- 
ready displayed  an  unchangeable  alacrity  in  the  confession  of 
religion  under  torture,  and  also  asked  them  whether  they  were 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  371 

yet  disposed  to  obey,  and  yet  received  only  tlie  same  answer,  the 
last  confession  of  every  one  in  martyrdona,  he  inflicted  upon  them 
the  same  punishment  with  the  former.     These  things  done,  a 
young  man,  who  had  belonged  to  the  family  of  Pamphilus,  as  one 
who  had  dwelt  with  and  enjoyed  the  excellent  education  and 
instruction  of  such  a  man,  as  soon  as  he  learned  the  sentence 
passed  upon  his  master,  cried  out   from  the  midst  of  the  people, 
requesting  that  the  body  at  least  should  be  interred.     But  the 
judge,  more  brute  than  man,  and  if  any  thing  worse  than  brute, 
making  no  allowance  for  the  young  man's  age,  only  inquired  this 
one  thing,  and  heard  him  confess  himself  a  Christian.     On  this, 
as  if  he  were  wounded  by  a  dart,  swelling  with  rage,  he  orders 
the  tormentors  to  exercise  all  their  force  against  him.     When  he 
saw  him  refusing  to  sacrifice  according  to  his  orders,  he  com- 
manded that  they  should  scrape  and  mutilate  him,  not  as  the 
flesh  of  a  human  being,  but  as  stones  and  wood,  or  any  othei 
lifeless  object,  to  the  very  bones,  and  the  inmost  parts  and  reces- 
ses of  the  bowels.     This  being  continued  for  a  long  time,  he  at 
length  perceived  that  he  was  labouring  in  vain,  as  he  continued 
without  uttering  a  sound   or  evincing  any  feeling,  and  almost 
totally  lifeless,  although  his  body  was  so  dreadfully  mangled  with 
tortures.     But  as  the  judge  was  of  an  inflexible  cruelty  and  in- 
humanity, he  condemned  him  in  this  condition  to  be  committed 
to  a  slow  fire ;  and  thus  this  youth,  although  he  had  entered  upon 
the  combat  last,  yet  he  received  his  dismission  from  this  life  be- 
fore the  decease  of  his  master  in  the  flesh,  and  whilst  those  that 
rivalled  the  first  were  yet  lingering  on  the  way.     One  could  then 
see  Porphyry,  for  this  was  his  name,  with  the  courage  of  one  who 
liad  already   triumphed  in  every  species  of  combat,  his   body 
covered  with  dust,  but  yet  his  countenance  bright  and  cheerful, 
and  after  this,  with  a  courageous  and  exulting  mind  advancing 
on  his  w-^j  to  death.     Truly  filled   with  the  divine  Spirit,  and 
covered  only  with  his  philosophical  garb  thrown  around  him  like 
a  cloak,  and  with  a  calm  and  composed  mind  giving  exhortations 
and  beckoning  to   his   acquaintance  and  friends,  he  preserved 
a  cheerful  countenance  at  the  very  stake.     When  the  fire  was 
kindled  which  was  at  some  distance  around  him,  he  attracted 
34 


372  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  inhaled  the  flame  in  his  mouth,  and  then  most  nobly  perse- 
vering in  silence,  until  his  last  breath,  he  uttered  not  another 
word  after  that  which  he  uttered  as  soon  as  the  flame  reached 
him,  caUing  upon  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  his  helper.  Such  a 
wrestler  then  was  Porphyry.  But  Seleucus,  one  of  the  confessors 
of  the  army,  brought  the  intelligence  of  his  martyrdom  to  Pam- 
philus  ;  and  he,  as  the  bearer  of  such  intelligence,  was  imme- 
diately honoured  with  the  same  lot.  For  as  soon  as  he  had  an- 
nounced the  end  of  Porphyry,  and  had  saluted  one  of  the  mar- 
tyrs with  a  kiss,  some  of  the  soldiers  seized  him  and  led  him  to  the 
governor,  who,  as  if  to  urge  him  to  attach  himself  to  the  former, 
as  his  companion  on  the  way  to  heaven,  commands  him  imme- 
diately to  be  put  to  death.  He  was  from  Cappadocia,  but  among 
the  chosen  band  of  Roman  soldiers,  and  one  who  had  obtained  no 
small  share  of  honours. 

In  the  vigour  of  age,  strength,  size,  and  firmness  of  body,  he 
was  greatly  superior  to  his  fellow-soldiers,  so  that  he  was  noted 
among  all  for  his  very  appearance,  and  admired  for  the  grandeur 
and  the  comeliness  of  his  whole  form.  At  the  very  beginning 
of  the  persecution,  indeed,  he  was  prominent  in  the  trials  of  the 
confessors,  by  his  patient  endurance  of  the  scourge,  and  after  his 
renunciation  of  military  life,  he  exliibited  himself  a  zealous  fol- 
lower of  those  who  led  a  life  devoted  to  the  exercises  of  piety, 
in  which,  like  a  provident  father,  he  proved  himself  a  kind  of 
overseer  {eTtLGxoTiog,)  and  protector  of  destitute  orphans  and 
helpless  widows,  and  of  all  those  that  were  prostrated  in  poverty 
and  sickness.  Hence,  also,  he  was  honoured  by  that  God  who 
is  better  pleased  with  such  charities  than  the  fume  and  blood  of 
sacrifices,  to  receive  an  extraordinary  call  to  martyrdom.  He 
was  the  tenth  after  those  wrestlers  mentioned  that  were  perfect- 
ed in  one  and  the  same  day,  on  which,  as  is  probable,  the  mighty 
portals  of  eternal  life  were  opened  to  Pamphilus,  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  man,  and  presented  to  him  and  to  others  a  ready 
entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Immediately  after  Seleu 
cus,  came  the  aged  Theodulus,  a  grave  and  pious  man,  who  was 
of  the  governor's  family,  and  who  on  account  of  his  age  had 
been  treated  with  more  regard  by  Firmilianus  than  any  of  his 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  373 

domestics,  as  also,  because  he  was  now  a  father  of  the  third 
generation,  and  had  always  evinced  great  fidelity  and  attach- 
ment to  himself  and  family.  He,  however,  pursuing  the  same 
course  as  Seleucus,  when  arraigned  before  his  master,  incensed 
him  yet  more  than  the  former,  and  was  condemned  to  endure  the 
same  martyrdom  as  our  Saviour  on  the  cross.  One  now  re- 
maining of  those  who  constituted  the  number  twelve,  already 
mentioned;  after  all  the  rest  came  JuHanus,  to  complete  it.  Kc 
had  just  come  from  abroad,  and  not  yet  even  entered  the  city, 
when  learning  the  death  of  the  martyrs  on  the  road,  just  as  he 
was,  he  immediately  hastened  to  the  sight.  There,  when  he  saw 
the  earthly  tabernacles  of  the  holy  men  lying  on  the  ground, 
filled  with  joy,  he  embraced  every  one,  and  kissed  them  all. 
Upon  this  he  was  immediately  seized  by  the  ministers  of  death, 
and  conducted  to  Firmilianus,  who  consistently  wiih  his  charac- 
ter, also  consigned  him  to  a  slow  and  lingering  fire.  Then  Ju- 
lianus,  also,  leaping  and  exulting  with  joy,  gave  thanks  to  God 
with  a  loud  voice,  who  had  honoured  him  with  a  martyrdom 
such  as  these  endured,  and  was  crowned  with  the  martyr's  death. 
He  also  was  a  native  of  Cappadocia,  but  in  his  manner  he  was 
most  religious,  and  eminent  for  the  sincerity  and  soundness  of  his 
faith.  He  was  also  a  devoted  man  in  other  respects,  and  ani- 
mated by  the  Holy  Spirit  himself.  Such  was  the  band  and  the 
company  that  met  with  Pamphilus,  and  were  honoured  to  en- 
counter martyrdom  v/ith  him.  The  sacred  and  holy  bodies  of 
these  men,  by  the  order  of  the  cruel  and  impious  governor,  were 
kept  and  guarded  for  four  days  and  nights  to  feed  the  wild 
beasts.  But,  as  contrary  to  expectation,  nothing  would  ap- 
proach them,  neither  beast  nor  bird  of  prey,  nor  dog,  by  a  divine 
providence  they  were  again  taken  up  uninjured,  and  obtaining 
a  decent  burial,  were  interred  according  to  the  accustomed 
mode.  But  when  the  cruelty  exercised  against  these  was  noised 
abroad  among  all,  Adrianus,  and  Eubulus,  from  the  region  called 
Manganaea,  came  to  the  other  confessors  as  far  as  Cesarea,  and 
were  also  asked  the  cause  of  their  coming  at  the  gate  of  the 
city.  They  confessed  the  truth,  and  were  brought  before  Firmi- 
liiinus-     He,  as  usual,  without  delay,  after  many  tortures  which 


374  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

he  inflicted,  by  scourgjng  and  lacerating  their  sides,  then  con- 
demned them  to  be  devoured  by  the  beasts.  After  the  lapse  of 
two  days,  on  the  fifth  of  the  month  Dystrus,  the  third  of  the  nones 
of  March,  the  day  that  was  considered  the  birthday  of  the  tu- 
telary divinity  of  Cesarea,*  he  was  cast  before  a  lion,  and  after- 
wards slain  with  the  sword.  As  to  Eubulus,  after  another  day 
and  a  half,  on  the  very  nones  of  March,  which  would  be  the 
seventh  of  Dystrus,  when  the  judge  had  urged  him  much  to  enjoy 
that  which  was  considered  liberty  among  them,  by  offering  the 
sacrifice,  he  preferred  a  glorious  death  in  the  cause  of  religion, 
and  after  being  cast  to  the  beasts  like  the  former,  was  the  last 
to  close  the  list  of  the  martyrs  that  wrestled  for  the  faith  at  Ce- 
sarea. It  is  also  worth  while  here  to  state,  how  at  length  the 
providence  of  God  overtook  the  wicked  governors  themselves, 
together  with  the  tyrants.  For  the  same  Firmilianus  that  raged 
with  such  violence  against  the  martyrs  of  Christ,  after  receiving 
with  the  others  the  most  signal  punishment  inflicted  on  him,  at 
length  ended  his  life  by  the  sword.  And  such,  then,  were  the 
martyrdoms  endured  at  Cesarea,  during  the  whole  period  of  the 
persecution. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  prelates  of  the  church. 


But  the  events  that  occurred  in  the  intermediate  time,  besides 
those  already  related,  I  have  thought  proper  to  pass  by ;  I  mean 
particularly  the  circumstances  of  the  different  heads  of  the 
churches,  who  from  being  shepherds  of  the  reasonable  flocks  of 
Christ  that  did  not  govern  in  a  lawful  and  becoming  manner, 
were  condemned,  by  divine  justice,  as  unworthy  of  such  a  charo-e, 
to  be  the  keepers  of  the  unreasonable  camel,  an  animal  deformed 
in  the  very  structure  of  its  body,  and  condemned  further  to  be 

*  Every  city  was  supposed  by  the  heathen  to  have  its  tutelary  divinity,  who  pre- 
sided over  its  destinies,  and  hence  called  rvzi,  furtune,  by  our  author.  The  tem- 
ples dedicated  to  these  were  hence  called  Tychea. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  375 

the  keepers  of  the  imperial  horses;  also,  the  number  and  seve- 
rity of  the  burdens  and  oppressions  they  bore  for  the  sake  of  the 
sacred  vessels  and  property  of  the  churches,  from  the  imperial 
rulers  and  governors  at  the  time  in  the  midst  of  insult,  injury,  and 
torment;  moreover,  tiie  ambitious  aspirings  of  many  to  office, 
and  the  injudicious  and  unlawful  ordinations,  that  took  place,  the 
divisions  among  the  confessors  themselves,  the  great  schisms  and 
difficulties  industriously  fomented  by  the  factious  among  the  new 
members,  against  the  relics  of  the  church,  devising  one  innova- 
tion after  another,  and  unmercifully  thrusting  them  into  the 
midst  of  all  these  calamities,  heaping  up  affliction  upon  affliction ; 
all  this,  I  say,  I  have  resolved  to  pass  by,  judging  it  foreign  to  my 
purpose,  wishing,  as  I  said  in  the  beginning,  to  shun  and  avoid 
giving  an  account  of  them.  But  whatsoever  things  are  serious 
and  commendable  according  to  the  Scriptures — "  if  there  be 
any  virtue,  if  there  be  any  praise,"  deeming  it  most  proper  to  tell 
and  to  describe  these,  and  present  them  to  the  attention  of  the 
faithful,  in  a  history  of  the  admirable  martyrs,  as  also,  most  con- 
sistent with  that  peace  which  has  recently  shone  upon  us  from 
heaven,  I  shall  consider  myself  as  most  likely  to  decorate  the 
close  of  my  work,  if  I  present  to  the  attention  of  the  .faithful  an 
account  of  these. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Silvanus  and  John,  and  thirty  more  other  martyrs. 

The  seventh  year  of  the  conflict  against  us  was  verging  to  its 
close,  and  the  measures  against  us  had  gently  and  impercepti- 
bly received  a  less  afflictive  aspect,  and  had  now  continued  until 
the  eighth  year,  when  there  was  no  small  number  of  confessors 
collected  in  the  copper  mines  of  Palestine,  and  these  were  enjoy- 
ing considerable  freedom,  so  far  as  even  to  build  houses  for  as- 
sembling together,  then  the  governor  of  the  province,  a  savage 
and  wicked  man,  such  indeed,  as  his  acts  against  the  martyrs 

proved  him  to  be,  came  thither,  and  ascertaining  the  state  of 
34* 


376  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY, 

things,  and  the  manner  of  those  that  Uved  there,  communicated 
the  whole  to  the  emperor,  and  wrote  against  them  whatever 
slanders  he  thought  proper.  After  this,  being  appointed  as  su- 
perintendent of  the  mines,  he  divided,  as  if  by  imperial  orders, 
the  multitude  of  confessors  into  diiFerent  bodies,  and  sent  some  to 
inhabit  Cj^prus,  some  to  Libanus.  Others  he  scattered  into  seve- 
ral parts  of  Palestine,  and  commanded  them  all  to  labour  in  dif- 
ferent works.  Then  selecting  those  that  appeared  to  be  pre-emi- 
nent among  them,  he  sent  them  away  to  the  commander  of  the 
forces  there.  Of  these,  two  were  Egyptians,  bishops  Peleus  and 
Nilus,  another  was  a  presbyter,  and  a  fourth  added  to  these 
named  Patermuthius,  well  known  to  all  for  his  great  benevolence 
toward  all.  These  the  commander,  after  demanding  a  renuncia- 
tion of  their  religion,  and  not  succeeding,  committed  to  be  consumed 
by  the  flames.  Others  again,  had  their  lot  cast  there,  in  a  separate 
place  by  themselves,  as  many  of  the  confessors,  as  whether  from 
age,  or  blindness,  or  other  infirmities  of  body,  were  exempt  from 
performing  labour.  Of  these,  the  chief  was  Silvanus,  a  bishop 
from  Gaza,  who  presented  a  venerable  example  of  genuine 
Christianity.  This  man,  one  might  say,  w^as  eminent  for  his  con- 
fessions from  the  very  first  day  of  the  persecution,  through  the 
whole  time,  in  a  variety  of  conflicts,  and  was  reserved  until  that 
time,  that  this  might  be  as  the  last  seal  of  the  whole  conflict  in 
Palestine.  With  him  were  associated  many  from  Egypt,  among 
whom  also  was  John,  who  in  the  excellence  of  his  memory  sur- 
passed all  of  our  time.  He,  indeed,  hnd  already  before  been  de- 
prived of  his  eyes,  and  had  his  foot  destroyed  with  burning  irons, 
like  the  others,  on  account  of  his  confessions,  yet  although  his 
sight  was  already  destroyed,  he  had  the  red  hot  iron  nevertheless 
applied  to  him  ;  the  butchers  aiming  at  every  display  of  cruelty, 
and  inhumanity,  and  whatever  was  savage  and  brutal.  And  as 
this  man  was  such,  one  has  no  cause  to  wonder  at  his  philosophi- 
cal life  and  habits,  as  he  appeared  not  so  wonderful  on  this  ac- 
count, as  from  the  excellence  of  his  memory.  He  had  whole 
books  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  written,  as  the  apostle  says,  not  on 
tables  of  stone,  neither  on  skins  of  animals,  nor  papers  destroyed 
by  moths  and  time,  but  on  the  tables  of  flesh,  in  the  heart,  in  an 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  377 

enlightened  soul,  and  the  pure  eye  of  the  mind.  So  that  when- 
ever he  wished  to  produce  any  passage,  whether  fi'om  the  law, 
or  the  prophets,  or  the  apostles,  the  historical  parts  or  the  gospels, 
he  could  repeat  and  produce  it  as  from  a  treasury  of  learning, 
whenever  he  pleased.  I  confess  that  I  myself  was  astonished 
when  I  first  saw  the  man  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  large  multitude, 
and  repeating  certain  parts  of  the  holy  Scriptures.  For  as  far 
as  I  had  opportunity  only  to  hear  his  voice,  I  thought  that  he  was 
reading  as  is  usual  in  the  congregations,  but  when  I  came  near 
and  saw  the  fact,  all  the  others  standing  around,  with  their  sound 
eyes,  and  him  alone  raising  his  mind  and  pronouncing  without 
any  artificial  means,  as  a  kind  of  prophet,  and  far  surpassing 
those  who  were  robust  in  body,  I  could  not  but  glorify  and  praise 
God.  And  indeed,  I  seemed  to  behold  an  evident  and  solid  proof 
in  facts,  that  not  he  who  appears  in  the  external  form  is  the  real 
man,  but  in  truth  that  which  is  in  the  soul  and  mind.  For  he, 
though  mutilated  in  body,  exhibited  the  greater  excellence  of 
power  and  virtue.  But  as  to  those  already  mentioned,  who 
were  living  in  a  separate  place,  and  were  engaged  in  performing 
their  accustomed  duties,  in  prayer  and  fasting,  and  other  exer- 
cises, God  himself  condescended  to  grant  them  a  salutary  issue, 
by  extending  his  right  arm  to  help  them. 

The  enemy,  no  longer  able  to  bear  them,  armed  with  constant 
prayer  to  God,  prepared  to  destroy  and  remove  them  from  the 
earth,  as  troublesome  to  him.  God  granted  him,  also,  power  to 
do  this,  that  at  the  same  time  he  might  not  be  restrained  in  his 
determined  wickedness,  and  they  might  now  receive  the  prizes 
of  their  varied  conflicts.  Thus,  then,  the  thirty-nine,  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  most  execrable  Maximinus,  were  beheaded  in  one 
day.  And  these  were  the  martyrdoms  exhibited  in  Palestine 
in  the  space  of  eight  years,  and  such  w^as  the  persecution  in  our 
day.  'It  began,  indeed,  with  the  demolition  of  the  churches,  and 
grew  to  a  great  height  during  the  insurrections  from  time  to 
time  under  the  rulers.  In  these,  many  and  various  were  the 
contests  of  the  noble  wrestlers  in  the  cause  of  piety,  who  pre- 
sented an  innumerable  multitude  of  martyrs  through  the  whole 
province,  among  those  from  Libya,  and  through  all  Egypt,  Syria, 
3B 


378  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

and  those  of  the  east,  round  as  far  as  those  of  the  region  of  Illy- 
ricum.  For  the  countries  beyond  these,  ail  Italy  and  Sicily, 
Gaul,  and  whatever  parts  extend  toward  the  west,  Spain,  Mau- 
ritania, and  Africa,  as  they  did  not  experience  the  hostility  of  the 
persecution  quite  two  years,  very  soon  were  blessed  with  the 
interposition  and  peace  of  God,  as  if  his  providence  spared  the 
simplicity  and  faith  of  these  men.  For  that,  indeed,  which  was 
never  before  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  Romans,  this  first  ob- 
tained in  our  day  contrary  to  all  expectation.  The  empire  was 
divided  into  two  parts  during  this  persecution.  Those  in  the  one 
part  enjoyed  peace,  whilst  those  brethren  that  inhabited  the  other, 
endured  innumerable  trials  one  after  another.  But  as  soon  as 
the  divine  favour  prepared  to  display  to  us  his  kind  and  gracious 
care,  then  at  length,  also,  our  rulers  themselves,  through  whom 
these  wars  were  formerly  waged  against  us,  changing  their  mind 
in  a  most  extraordinary  manner,  sounded  a  retreat,  and  extin- 
guished the  flame  of  persecution  by  kind  ordinances  and  milder 
edicts.     But  we  must  not  omit  the  recantation.* 

*  Eusebius  here  intimates  that  he  appended  the  imperial  revocation  to  this  book, 
and  prepares  us  for  it  in  these  closing  words.  But  as  it  does  not  appear  in  this 
place,  the  book,  of  course,  does  not  end  here.  The  defect  is  easily  supplied  from 
the  last  chapter  of  the  eighth  book. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  379 


BOOK    IX. 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  pretended  relaxation. 


The  revocation  of  the  imperial  edict  that  had  been  issued,  was 
pubUshed  every  where,  and  in  all  places  throughout  Asia  and 
its  provinces.  This  being  done,  accordingly,  in  this  way,  Max- 
iminus,  the  tyrant  of  the  east,  the  most  impious  of  men,  and  most 
hostile  to  the  religion  which  acknowledges  only  the  supreme  God, 
by  no  means  satisfied  with  these  mandates,  instead  of  issuing  an 
edict,  gives  verbal  commands  to  the  rulers  under  him,  to  relax 
the  war  against  us.  For  as  he  had  no  power  to  oppose  or  to 
pursue  a  different  course,  and  place  himself  in  opposition  to  the 
judgment  of  his  superiors,  he  suppressed  the  edict ;  and  designing 
that  it  should  not  be  made  public  in  the  parts  under  him,  he  gives 
orders,  without  writing  to  his  governors,  to  relax  the  persecution 
against  us.  These  communicate  the  mandate  to  one  another  by 
letters.  Sabinus,  who  held  the  highest  rank  and  power  among 
the  provincial  rulers,  communicated  the  imperial  will  to  the  re- 
spective governors  of  the  provinces,  in  a  Latin  letter,  the  transla- 
tion of  which  is  as  follows : 

"  With  a  most  persevering  and  devoted  earnestness,  their  ma- 
jesties, our  sovereigns  and  most  august  emperors,  had  formerly 
directed  the  minds  of  all  men  to  live  and  conduct  themselves  ac- 
cording to  the  true  and  holy  way,  that  even  those  who  appeared 
to  pursue  practices  foreign  to  the  Roman,  should  exhibit  the  pro- 
per worship  to  the  immortal  gods.  But  the  obstinacy  and  most 
unconquerable  determination  of  some,  rose  to  such  a  pitch,  that 
they  could  neither  be  induced  to  recede  from  their  own  purpose 
by  a  due  regard  to  the  imperial  command,  nor  be  deterred  by  the 


380  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

impending  punishment  inflicted.  Since,  then,  it  has  happened 
that  many  incurred  danger  from  a  practice  Uke  this,  their  majes- 
ties our  sovereigns,  the  most  powerful  emperors,  in  their  pecuHar 
and  exalted  piety,  deeming  it  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  their  majes- 
ties, that  men  should  be  thrust  into  so  great  danger  for  such  a 
cause,  have  commanded  (me  in)  my  devotedness*  to  address 
(you  in)  your  wisdom,  that  if  any  of  the  Christians  be  found  to 
observe  the  worship  of  their  people,  that  you  should  abstain  from 
molesting  or  endangering  them,  nor  determine  that  any  one  should 
^e  punished  on  such  a  pretext;  as  it  has  been  made  to  appear 
by  the  lapse  of  so  long  a  time,  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  in- 
duce them  in  any  manner  to  abandon  their  obstinate  course.  It 
is  incumbent,  therefore,  on  your  attentive  care,  to  write  to  tlie 
governors  and  magistrates,  and  to  the  praefects  of  the  districts  of 
every  city,  that  they  may  know  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  them 
to  pay  any  further  regard  to  this  edict  (or  business.)" 

After  this,  the  rulers  of  the  provinces  thinking  that  the  resolu- 
tion contained  in  these  writings,  was  truly  set  forth  to  them, 
communicate  by  letter  the  imperial  will  to  the  controllers, 
magistrates,  and  prsefects  of  the  different  districts.  Nor  did 
they  urge  these  things  only  by  writing,  but  much  more  by  their 

*  The  more  literal  translation  of  this  passage  may  give  the  reader  some  idea  of 
the  kind  of  phraseology  employed  here.  It  would  run  thus — "  have  given  orders 
through  my  devotedness  to  write  to  your  discretion  :"  K;>-/no.x  signifies  acuteness 
of  discrimination.  As  Eusebius  gives  us  here  a  Greek  translation  from  the  Latin, 
it  would  not  be  surprising  to  find  Latinisms  transferred  here  as  well  as  in  the  edict 
before  translated  by  him.  We  have  suspected  the  original  of  xs^Soo-iot;-;  here,  to 
have  been  in  the  Latin  sanctitas,  a  very  comprehensive  word,  expressing  integrity, 
inviolable  fidelity,  attachment.  But  the  classical  use  of  /.«5oo^.or.:,-,  would  rather  be 
sanctificatio,  veiy  different,  therefore,  fi-om  sanctitas. 

We  have  in  this  mode  of  address,  also,  a  specimen  of  that  kind  of  style  in  which 
the  great  were  addressed  by  others,  and  by  one  another.  Some  traces  of  it  still 
exist  in  Europe,  as  in  your  Lordship,  your  Grace,  your  Excellency,  &c. ;  but  it 
has  prevailed  no  where  to  a  greater  extent  than  among  the  dignitaries  of  the  Ger- 
man empire.  Formerly  almost  every  book  that  had  a  dedicatory  epistle,  abounded 
in  this  artificial  mode  of  address ;  so  that  unless  one  were  apprized  of  the  fact,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  tell  who  it  was  that  was  addressed.  This  usage  among  the 
Germans  is  no  doubt  to  be  U-aced  back  to  a  more  ultimate  connexion  with  the 
Roman  empire. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  381 

acts,  to  execute  the  imperial  mandate ;  conducting  those  forth 
who  had  been  imprisoned  by  them  on  account  of  their  faith, 
they  set  them  at  liberty,  and  dismissing  those  who  had  been 
consigned  as  a  punishment  to  the  mines.  For  this  in  mistake 
they  supposed  to  be  the  true  intention  of  the  emperor.  When 
these  things  had  thus  been  executed,  all  on  a  sudden,  like  a  flash 
of  light  blazing  from  dense  darkness,  in  every  city,  one  could 
see  congregations  collected,  assemblies  thronged,  and  the  accus- 
tomed meeting  held  in  the  same  places.  Every  one  of  the 
heathen  was  not  a  little  astonished  at  these  appearances,  both 
amazed  at  the  singular  change  of  afTairs,  and  exclaiming  that 
the  God  of  the  Christians  was  the  only  great  and  true  God. 
Those  of  our  brethren  who  had  faithfully  and  manfully  passed 
through  the  conflict  of  persecution,  also  again  obtained  great  pri- 
vileges with  all.  But  those  who  had  deserted  their  faith,  and 
had  been  shaken  in  their  souls  by  the  tempest,  eagerly  hasten- 
ed to  their  remedy,  supplicating  and  entreating  the  strong  to 
give  them  the  right  hand  of  safety,  and  imploring  God  to  be 
merciful  unto  them.  Then,  also,  these  noble  wrestlers  of  reli- 
gion, Hberated  from  the  hardships  of  labouring  in  the  mines, 
were  dismissed  every  one  to  his  own  country.  Joyous  and  cheer- 
ful they  proceeded  through  every  city,  filled  with  an  inexpres- 
sible pleasure  and  a  confidence  which  language  is  inadequate  to 
explain.  Numerous  bodies  thus  pursued  their  journey  through 
the  public  highways  and  markets,  celebrating  the  praises  of  God 
in  songs  and  psalms.  And  they  who  a  little  before  had  been 
driven  in  bonds  under  a  most  merciless  punishment,  from  their 
respective  countries,  you  could  now  see  regaining  their  homes 
and  firehearths,  with  bright  and  exhilarated  countenances;  so 
that  even  they  who  before  had  exclaimed  against  us,  seeing  the 
wonder,  beyond  all  expectation  congratulated  us  on  these  events. 


382  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

CHAPTEP*,    11. 

The  subsequent  reverse. 

But  the  tyrant,  unable  to  bear  this  state  of  things,  an  enemy 
of  goodness,  and  as  far  as  possible  of  good  men,  who  we  have 
already  said  was  the  sovereign  of  the  parts  in  the  east,  did  not 
suffer  this  course  to  hold  out  quite  six  months.  And  thus,  whilst 
he  was  devising  schemes  in  every  possible  way  to  destroy  the 
peace,  he  first  attempted  to  restrain  us  by  a  kind  of  pretext  from 
assembling  in  the  cemeteries.*  Then  he  sent  delegates  to  him- 
self f  against  us,  through  the  agency  of  some  abandoned  charac- 
ters, stimulating  the  inhabitants  of  Antioch  to  request  of  him,  as 
a  very  great  favour,  by  no  means  to  permit  any  of  the  Chris- 
tians to  dwell  at  Antioch,  and  suborned  others  to  do  the  same 
thing.  Of  all  which  things,  Theotecnus  was  the  cause  and  prime 
mover  at  Antioch,  a  man  of  a  violent,  artful,  and  wicked  charac- 
ter, altogether  the  reverse  of  the  name  he  bore.  But  he  appears 
to  have  been  the  controller  of  that  city. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  new  statue  erected  at  Antioch. 

After  he  had  thus  waged  war  against  us  by  every  means, 
and  had  caused  our  brethren  with  all  diligence  and  care  to  be 
hunted  up  in  their  retreats,  as  thieves  and  malefactors,  and  had 
plotted  against  us  by  slander  and  accusation,  and  been  the  cause 
of  death  to  vast  numbers,  he  finally  erected  a  certain  statue  of 
Jupiter  Philius,  with  a  variety  of  mummery  and  magic  rites. 
And  after  reciting  forms  of  initiation,  and  pronouncing  dire  in- 

*  See  note,  Book  VII.  ch.  ii. 

•j-  Our  author  here  represents  Maximinus  in  the  odd  predicament  of  sending  an 
embassy  to  himself,  by  suborning  his  agents  to  have  this  done.  The  original  is 
pronounced  by  Valesius,  ele^ans  locutio,  to  which  we  may  add  sale  plena. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  383 

auspicious  mysteries  before  it,  and  inventing  execrable  modes  of 
expiation,  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  exhibit  his  impostures  to  the 
emperor,  by  the  oracles  which  he  pretended  to  utter.  Thus,  by 
a  flattery  grateful  to  the  emperor,  he  roused  the  dasmon  against 
the  Christians,  and  said  that  God  had  commanded  to  expel  the 
Christians  as  his  enemies,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city  and  the 
adjacent  territory. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  decrees  against  us. 


As'  this  man  who  took  the  lead  in  this  matter,  had  thus  suc- 
ceeded, all  the  rest  in  office  that  inhabited  cities  under  the  same 
government  (of  Maximinus,)  proceeded  to  issue  a  similar  decree. 
And  the  governors  of  provinces  perceiving  that  it  would  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  emperor  also,  suggested  to  their  subjects  to  do 
the  same  thing.  To  these  decrees  the  emperor  himself  most 
readily  assenting,  the  persecution  that  raged  at  first  was  again 
kindled  against  us.  Hence,  in  every  city  priests  were  appointed 
for  the  images,  and  highpriests  over  these,  by  Maximinus  him- 
self; these  were  from  among  those  who  had  been  most  distin- 
guished for  their  public  life,  and  had  gained  celebrity  in  the 
different  stations  they  had  filled.  Who  were  also  fired  with 
great  zeal  for  those  objects  that  they  worshipped.  In  short,  the 
absurd  superstition  of  the  emperor  led  on  the  rulers  under  him, 
as  well  as  his  subjects,  to  do  all  things  against  us  in  order  to  gra- 
tify him ;  supposing  this  was  the  greatest  proof  of  gratitude  they 
could  give  lor  the  kindnesses  they  had  received  from  him,  if 
they  only  exhibited  slaughter,  and  constantly  devised  new  plots 
and  modes  of  mischief  against  us. 
35 


384  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY- 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  false  acts. 

Havin-g  forged,  therefore,  certain  acts  of  Pilate,  respecting  our 
Saviour,  full  of  every  kind  of  blasphemy  against  Christ,  these,  with 
the  consent  of  the  emperor,  they  sent  through  the  whole  of  the  em- 
pire subject  to  him,  commanding  at  the  same  time  by  ordinances 
in  every  place  and  city,  and  the  adjacent  districts,  to  publish 
these  to  all  persons,  and  to  give  them  to  the  schoolmasters  to 
hand  to  their  pupils  to  study  and  commit  to  memory,  as  exercises 
for  declamation.  Whilst  these  things  were  doing,  another  com- 
mander, whom  the  Romans  call  Dux,  in  Damascus,  a  city  of 
Phoenicia,  caused  certain  infamous  females  to  be  seized  from  the 
forum,  and  threatening  to  inflict  torture  upon  them,  he  forced 
them  to  make  a  formal  declaration,  taken  dovi'n  on  record,  thai 
they  had  once  been  Christians,  and  that  they  were  privy  to  the 
criminal  acts  among  them  ;  that  in  their  very  churches,  they 
committed  licentious  deeds,  and  innumerable  other  slanders, 
which  he  wished  them  to  utter  against  our  religion.  Which  de- 
clarations he  inserted  in  the  acts,  and  communicated  to  the  em- 
peror, who  immediately  commanded  that  these  documents  should 
be  published  in  every  city  and  place. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Those  ivho  suffered  martyrdom  at  this  time. 

This  commander,  however,  ere  long,  laid  violent  hands  upon 
himself,*  and  thus  suffered  punishment  for  his  wickedness.  But 
exiles  and  severe  persecutions  in  the  mean  time  were  again  re- 
newed against  us,  and  the  rulers  of  the  provinces  were  every 
where  again  stirred  up  against  us,  insomuch  that  some  who  were 

*  Our  author's  Greek  here  is  both  elegant  and  nervous.  He  became  his  own  exc' 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  385 

» 

more  distinguished  for  their  skill  in  the  divine  word,  when  taken, 
received  the  sentence  of  death  without  mercy.  Three  of  these  in 
the  city  of  Emesa  in  Phoenicia,  professing  themselves  Christians, 
were  thrown  to  be  devoured  by  the  wild  beasts.  Among  these  was 
Silvanus,  a  very  venerable  and  superannuated  bishop,  who  had 
been  engaged  in  the  ministry  forty  years.  At  the  same  time  also, 
Peter,  who  presided  over  the  churches  of  Alexandria  with  great 
reputation,  an  admirable  instance  of  a  bishop,  both  for  the  excel- 
lence of  his  life  and  his  study  of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  He  was 
seized  for  no  reason  whatever,  and  beheaded,  beyond  all  expecta- 
tion so  suddenly,  and  without  any  cause  assigned,  as  if  by  the  or- 
ders of  Maximinus.  With  him  also  many  other  bishops  of  Egypt 
suffered  the  same  punishment.  Lucianus,  a  man  in  all  respects 
most  excellent,  temperate  in  his  life,  and  conspicuous  for  his  pro- 
ficiency in  sacred  literature.  He  was  presbyter  of  the  church 
at  Antioch,  and  when  brought  to  Nicomedia,  where  the  emperor 
happened  to  be  staying,  he  delivered  a  defence  of  his  doctrine  be- 
fore the  governor,  when  he  was  committed  to  prison  and  slain. 
Such  were  the  preparations  made  against  us  in  so  short  a 
time,  by  the  malicious  Maximinus,  so  that  it  would  appear  this 
persecution  now  raising  against  us,  was  more  severe  than  the 
former. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  measures  decreed  against  us,  and  eiigraved  07i  pillars. 

The  measui-es  and  the  decrees  of  the  cities  against  us,  and 
copies  of  the  imperial  edicts  appended  to  these,  were  engraved 
and  erected  on  brazen  tablets,  a  course  never  before  adopted 
against  us  any  where.  The  boys  also  in  the  schools  had  the 
names  of  Jesus  and  Pilate,  and  the  acts  forged  in  derision,  in  their 
mouths  the  whole  day.  And  here  appears  to  me  the  proper  place 
to  insert  the  epistle  of  Maximinus,  engraven  on  brass,  that  at  the 
same  time  the  boasting  and  haughty  arrogance  of  the  man's 
hatred  of  God,  and  also  God's  just  and  ever  vigilant  hatred  of 
3C 


386  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

iniquity  against  the  wicked  may  appear,  which  soon  overtook 
hini,  and  by  which  he  was  urged  onwards ;  so  that  he  did  not 
long  devise  hostilities,  and  form  decrees  against  us.  The  decree 
"was  as  follows : 

Copy  of  the  translated  epistle  of  Maximlnus,  in  ansicer  to  the  ordi- 
nances {of  the  cities)  against  us,  taken  from  the  brazen  tablet  at 
Tyre. 

"  Now  at  length  the  feeble  powers*  of  the  human  mind  have 
prevailed  so  far  as  to  shake  off  and  to  scatter  the  mists  of  every 
error,  and  dissipate  the  clouds  of  delusion,  which  before  this 
had  beset  the  senses  of  those  who  were  more  miserable  than 
profane,  and  enveloped  them  in  a  destructive  dafkness  and  igno- 
rance ;  thus  leading  us  to  acknowledge  that  it  is  regulated  and 
strengthened  by  the  good  providence  of  the  immortal  gods: 
which  things  it  is  incredible  to  say  how  grateful,  how  delightful 
and  pleasing  it  is  to  us,  how  pow-erful  an  evidence  it  has  fur- 
nished of  your  pious  resolutions,  since  before  this  it  could  be  un- 
known to  none,  how  much  regard  and  reverence  you  cherished  to- 
wards the  immortal  gods,  to  whom  faith  is  exhibited  not  by  mere 
empty  words,  but  by  a  constant  and  eminentf  display  of  illustri- 
ous deeds.  Wherefore,  deservedly,  may  your  city  be  called  the 
seat  and  habitation  of  the  immortal  gods,  for  by  many  evidences 
it  does  appear  most  clearly  that  it  flourishes  by  the  presence  and 
residence  of  the  celestial  gods.  So  then,  your  city,  regardless  ol 
all  local  interest  and  advantage,  and  omitting  the  petitions  for- 
merly presented  to  us,  for  its  own  political  atfairs,  when  it  per- 
ceived the  votaries  of  an  execrable  vanity  again  inshiuating 
themselves,  and  as  a  funeral  pile  long  disregarded  and  smothered, 
again  rising  in  mighty  flames  and  rekindling  the  extinguished 
brands,  immediately  without  delay  it  took  refuge  to  our  piety,  as 

*  We  have  rendered  the  word  S-pxc-ui-nj  here,  not  according  to  the  Greek,  but  what 
we  conjecture  was  the  original  Latin.  Audacity,  tlie  meaning  of  the  Greek,  seems  en- 
tirely at  variance  with  the  whole  drift  of  the  sentence,  even  if  it  should  be  under- 
stood in  the  milder  sense  of  confidence.  If  our  author  had  before  him  the  word  vis 
animi,  it  is  possible  that  he  might  have  understood  it  in  a  lax  sense,  and  rendered 
accordingly. 

+  Probably  the  Latin  here,  was  sinjularis,  and  our  author  rendered  vrxpy.Sci*. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  387 

to  the  metropolis  of  all  religion,  entreating  some  remedy  and  re- 
lief. Which  salutary  mind  it  is  evident  the  immortal  gods  have 
imparted  to  you  on  account  of  yoiu-  faith  and  piety.  WTiere- 
fore,  that  supreme  and  mighty  Jove,  he  who  presides  over  your 
most  illustrious  city,  who  has  rescued  your  country's  gods,  and 
wives,  and  children,  and  houses,  and  homes,  from  every  destruc- 
tive pest,  has  infused  into  you  the  happy  counsel,  showing  and 
proving  to  you  how  excellent,  and  noble,  and  profitable  it  Is  to 
observe  the  worship  and  the  sacred  rites  of  the  immortal  gods 
with  the  becoming  reverence.  For  who  can  be  so  bereft  of  un- 
derstanding, and  all  sense,  as  not  to  perceive,  that  it  has  happen- 
ed by  the  gracious  benevolence  of  the  gods,  that  neither  the 
earth  has  refused  the  seed  committed  to  it,  and  disappointed  the 
hope  of  the  husbandmen,  with  vain  expectation ;  nor  the  pre- 
sence of  impious  war  has  been  inevitably  fixed  on  earth,  and 
under  a  corrupt  atmosphere  wasting  bodies  have  been  dragged 
and  weighed  down  to  death;  nor  indeed,  the  ocean  swelling 
and  rising  on  high,  with  the  raging  blasts  of  intemperate  storms, 
nor  unexpected  tempests  have  burst  and  spread  destruction 
around.  Moreover,  that  neither  the  parent  and  nurturing  earth 
has  risen  in  dreadful  tremblings,  from  its  lowest  depths,  nor  the 
superincumbent  hills  and  mountains  have  sunk  into  its  opening 
jaws.  All  which  calamities,  and  worse  than  these,  have,  as  we 
all  know,  frequently  occurred.  And  all  this  in  consequence  of 
the  destructive  error  of  this  hollow  delusion  of  those  lawless 
men,  wdien  it  began  to  take  root  in  their  minds,  and  we  may  say 
has  covered  nearly  all  the  world  with  infamy."  A  Uttle  after, 
he  superadds  the  following : 

"  Let  them  look  at  the  flourishing  crops  in  the  wide  extended 
fields  waving  with  the  loaded  ears,  and  the  meadows  glittering 
with  plants  and  flowers,  from  the  seasonable  showers,  and  the 
temperature  of  the  air  restored  to  a  mild  and  placid  state.  Then 
let  all  rejoice,  that  by  your  piety,  and  sacrifices,  and  veneration 
of  the  gods,  the  divinity  of  omnipotent  and  mighty  Mars  has 
been  propitiated,  and  hence  let  them  enjoy  tranquillity  and  solid 
peace,  be  filled  wnth  pleasure  and  joy ;  and  as  many  as  have 
abandoned  that  blind  delusion  and  perplexing  error,  whoever 
35^ 


388  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

they  may  be,  and  have  returned  to  the  right  and  sound  mind,  let 
these  rejoice  still  more,  as  those  who  have  been  rescued  from  an 
unexpected  storm  or  severe  disease,  and  let  them  enjoy  the  de- 
lightful fruits  the  rest  of  their  life.  But  should  they  still  adhere 
to  their  execrable  folly,  let  them  be  driven  out  and  separated  far 
from  your  city  and  -territory,  as  you  have  desired.  That  thus 
agreeably  to  your  zeal,  so  praiseworthy  in  this  respect,  your 
city,  separated  from  all  pollution  and  impiety,  may  attend  to  the 
sacred  rites  of  the  immortal  gods,  according  to  its  natural  dispo- 
sition, with  due  veneration.  That  ye  may  also  know  how  ac- 
ceptable this  request  of  yours  respecting  this  matter  has  been, 
and  how  very  prompt  our  mind  is  to  confer  benefits  of  our  own 
voluntary  kindness,  without  decrees  and  without  petitions,  we 
grant  to  your  devotedness  to  desire  any  privilege  you  please  for 
this  your  pious  purpose  of  mind,  and  now  present  your  petitions 
to  have  this  done  and  to  receive  it.  For  you  shall  obtain  with- 
out delay.  Which,  indeed,  when  granted  to  your  city,  will  be 
an  evidence  for  ever  of  your  devoted  piety  to  the  immortal  gods, 
as  also  of  the  fact  that  you  obtained  by  our  kindness,  merited 
prizes  for  this  your  purpose  of  life ;  an  evidence  which  will  be 
exhibited  to  your  children  and  posterity." 

Such,  then,  were  the  letters  that  were  sent  abroad  against  us 
in  all  the  provinces,  cutting  us  off  from  every  hope  of  good,  at 
least  from  men.  So  that,  according  to  the  holy  Scriptures  them- 
selves, if  it  were  possible  "  the  very  elect  would  take  offence." 
And  now,  indeed,  when  the  hope  of  most  of  us  was  almost  ex- 
tinct, all  on  a  sudden,  almost  whilst  the  agents  of  this  decree 
against  us  were  in  some  places  yet  on  the  way  to  carry  it  into 
effect,  that  God,  who  is  the  defender  of  his  church,  all  but  stop- 
ping the  pomp  and  boasting  of  the  tyrant's  mouth,  exhibited  his 
heavenly  interposition  in  our  behalf. 


% 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTEP^  VIII. 

The  events  that  occurred  after  these  ;  famine,  pestilence,  and  war. 

Rains  and  showers  which  usually  fell  in  the  winter  season,  now 
withheld  their  accustomed  contribution  upon  the  earth.  An  un- 
expected famine  came  on,  and  pestilence  after  this.  Another 
kind  of  sickness  also  followed,  which  was  a  species  of  ulcer  called 
by  an  epithet  the  carbuncle,  on  account  of  its  inflammatory  ap- 
pearance. This  spreading  over  the  whole  body,  greatly  endan- 
gered the  lives  of  those  afflicted  with  it.  But  as  it  prevailed 
mostly  about  the  eyes,  it  deprived  great  numbers  of  men,  women, 
and  cif  iWren  of  their  sight.  In  addition  to  these  calamities,  the 
war  with  the  Armenians  threatented  the  tyrant.  These  men  had 
been  the  friends  and  allies  of  the  Romans  from  ancient  times, 
and  as  they  were  Christians,  and  greatly  valued  piety  toward 
the  Deity,  and  as  the  profane  and  impious  tyrant  had  attempted 
to  force  them  to  sacrifice  to  idols  and  daemons,  he  made  them 
enemies  instead  of  friends,  and  belligerent  foes  instead  of  allies. 
And  all  these  troubles  suddenly  concurring  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  refuted  the  tyrant's  boasting  and  blustering  audacity  against 
God.  When,  indeed,  in  his  great  zeal  for  idols,  and  his  hostility 
to  us,  he  boasted  that  neither  famine  nor  pestilence  nor  war  had 
happened  in  his  times.  All  these  then  coming  upon  him  at  once, 
presented  also  the  preludes  to  his  own  death. 

He,  therefore,  together  with  his  army,  was  defeated  in  the  war 
with  the  Armenians.  But  the^  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  cities 
under  him  were  dreadfully  afflicted  both  by  famine  and  pesti- 
lence, so  that  a  single  measure  of  wheat  was  sold  for  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  Attic  drachms.*  Immense  numbers  were 
dying  in  the  cities,  still  more  in  the  country  and  villages,  so  that 
now  the  vast  population  in  the  interior  was  almost  entirely  swept 
away,  nearly  all  being  suddenly  destroyed  by  want  of  food  and 
pestilential  disease.     Many,  therefore,  were  anxious  to  sell  their 

•  About  175  dollars. 


390  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

most  valuable  effects  to  those  better  supplied,  for  the  smallest 
quantity  of  food.  Others  gradually  spending  all  their  posses- 
sions were  reduced  to  the  last  extreme  of  want.  And  now  some 
even  chewing  remnants  of  hay,  and  others  eating  without  distinc- 
tion certain  noxious  herbs,  miserably  destroyed  the  constitution 
of  the  body.  Also,  soi3;ie  of  the  more  honourable  females  through- 
out the  cities,  constrained  by  want  to  throw  aside  all  shame, 
went  into  the  public  markets  to  beg,  indicating  the  evidences  of 
their  former  liberal  education,  by  the  modesty  of  their  counte- 
nances and  the  decency  of  their  apparel.  Some,  indeed,  wasted 
away  to  mere  skeletons,  stumbled  hither  and  thither  like  dead 
shadows,  trembling  and  tottering,  from  excessive  weakness  and 
inability  to  stand ;  they  fell  down  in  thp  midst  of  the  streets, 
where  they  lay  stretched  out,  and  only  earnestly  begged  some 
one  to  hand  them  a  little  morsel  of  bread,  then  drawing  in  their 
breath,  with  the  last  gasp  they  cried  out  hunger  !  having  only 
strength  sufficient  for  this  most  painful  ciy.  Some,  however,  of 
those  that  appeared  better  supplied,  astonished  at  the  great  mul- 
titude of  those  begging,  after  giving  vast  quantities  away,  after- 
wards yielded  to  a  harsh  and  inflexible  disposition,  expecting 
that  they  would  soon  suffer  the  same  things  with  those  begging 
of  them.  So  that  now  in  the  midst  of  the  streets  and  lanes,  the 
dead  and  naked  bodies,  cast  out  and  lying  for  many  days,  pre- 
sented a  most  painful  spectacle  to  the  beholders,  Som.e,  indeed, 
were  already  the  food  of  dogs,  on  which  account,  especially,  the 
survivors  began  to  slay  the  dogs,  lest  growing  mad  they  should 
devour  men.  The  pestilence,  however,  in  the  mean  time,  did  not 
the  less  prey  upon  every  house  and  family,  particularly  those 
however,  whom  the  famine  from  tl^ir  abundance  of  food  could  not 
destroy ;  the  wealthy,  the  rulers,  generals,  and  vast  numbers  in 
office,  who,  as  if  they  had  been  designedly  left  by  the  famine  to 
the  pestilence,  were  overtaken  by  a  sudden,  violent,  and  rapid 
death.  All  places,  therefore,  M^ere  filled  with  lamentation,  in  all 
streets,  lanes,  market  places,  and  highways.  Nothing  was  to  be 
seen  but  tears,  with  the  accustomed  flutes,  and  funeral  dirge.  In 
this  manner  death  waged  a  desolating  war  with  these  two  wea- 
pons, famine  and  pestilence,  destroying  whole  families  in  a  short 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  391 

time,  so  that  one  now  could  see  two  or  three  dead  bodies  carried 
out  at  once.  Such  were  the  rewards  of  the  pompous  boasting 
of  Maxiniinus,'  and  of  his  edicts  througliout  the  cities  against  us. 
Then,  also,  the  evidences  of  the  zeal  and  piety  of  the  Christians 
became  manifest  and  obvious  to  all,  for  they  were  the  only  ones 
in  the  midst  of  such  distressing  circumstances,  that  exhibited 
sympathy  and  humanity  in  their  conduct.  They  continued  the 
whole  day,  some  in  the  care  and  burial  of  the  dead,  for  number- 
less were  they  for  whom  there  was  none  to  care ;  others  collect- 
ing the  multitude  of  those  wasting  by  the  famine  throughout  the 
city,  distributed  bread  among  all.  So  that  the  fact  was  cried 
abroad,  and  men  glorified  the  God  of  the  Christians,  constrained 
as  they  were,  by  the  facts,  to  acknowledge  that  these  were  the 
only  really  pious  and  the'  only  real  worshippers  of  God.  Whilst 
these  things  were  thus  doing,  God,  the  great  and  celestial  defender 
of  the  Christians,  who  exhibited  his  indignation  and  anger  against 
men  by  these  calamities,  on  account  of  the  excesses  committed 
against  us,  restored  the  benign  and  smiling  brightness  of  his  pro- 
vidence toward  us,  so  that  by  a  most  wonderful  concurrence  of 
events,  the  light  of  his  peace  again  began  to  shine  upon  us  as 
from  the  midst  of  the  densest  darkness.  Showing  plainly  to  all, 
that  God  himself  has  been  the  ruler  of  our  affairs  at  all  times ; 
who  sometimes,  indeed,  chastens  and  visits  his  people  by  various 
trials,  from  time  to  time,  but  after  he  has  sufficiently  chastened, 
again  exhibits  his  mercy  and  kindness  to  those  that  trust  in  him. 


CHAPTER.  IX. 

The  death  of  the  tyrants,  and  their  expressions  before  their  end. 

CoNSTANTiNE,  whom  wc  havc  already  mentioned  as  an  em- 
peror born  of  an  emperor,  the  pious  son  of  a  most  pious  and 
virtuous  father,  and  Licinius  next  to  him,  were  both  in  great 
esteem  for  their  moderation  and  piety.  These  two  pious  rulers 
had  been  excited  by  God,  the  universal  sovereign,  against  the 


392  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTOHY. 

two  most  profane  tyrants,  and  engaging  in  battle,  in  an  extraor- 
dinary manner,  Maxentius  fell  under  Constantino.  But  the  other, 
(Maximinus)  did  not  long  survive  him,  being  himself  put  to  a 
most  ignominious  death,  by  Licinius,  who  had  not  yet  at  that 
time  evinced  his  insanity.  But  Constantino,  who  was  first  both 
in  dignity  and  imperial  rank,  first  took  compassion  upon  those 
who  were  oppressed  at  Rome,  invoking  the  God  of  hea-ven,  and 
his  Son  and  word  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  all,  as 
his  aid  advanced  with  his  whole  army,  purporting  to  restore 
the  Romans  to  that  liberty  which  they  had  derived  from  their 
ancestors.  Maxentius,  however,  relying  more  upon  the  arts  of 
juggling  than  the  affection  of  his  subjects,  did  not  venture  to 
advance  beyond  the  gates  of  the  city,  but  fortified  every  place 
and  region  and  city,  wdth  vast  numbers  of  soldiers  and  innumer- 
able bands  and  garrisons  in  all  places  of  Rome  and  Italy  that 
were  enslaved  by  him.  But  the  emperor  (Constantine)  stimu- 
lated by  the  divine  assistance,  proceeded  against  the  tyrant,  and 
defeating  him  without  difficulty  in  the  first,  second,  and  third  en- 
gagements, he  advanced  through  the  greatest  part  of  Italy,  and 
came  almost  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome.  Then,  however,  that 
he  might  not  be  forced  to  wage  war  with  the  Romans  for  the 
sake  of  the  tyrant,  God  himself  drew  the  tyrant,  as  if  bound  in 
fetters,  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  gates ;  and  here  he 
confirmed  those  miraculous  events  performed  of  old  against  the 
wicked,  and  which  have  been  discredited  by  so  many,  as  if  belong- 
ing to  fiction  and  fable,  but  which  have  been  established  in  the 
sacred  volume,  as  credible  to  the  believer.  He  confirmed  them, 
I  say,  as  true,  by  an  immediate  interposition  of  his  power,  ad- 
dressed alike  I  may  say  to  the  eyes  of  believers  and  unbelievers. 
As,  therefore,  anciently  in  the  days  of  Moses,  and  the  religious 
people  of  the  Hebrews,  the  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  forces 
were  cast  into  the  Red  Sea,  and  his  chosen  triple*  combatants 
were  overwhelmed  in  it;  thus,  also,  Maxentius,  and  his  com- 

*  This  passage  is  found  Exod.  xv.  4.  The  Hebrew  is  vcSs'  nram,  is  rendered 
in  our  version,  his  chosen  captains.  It  probably  refers  to  three  combatants  on  one 
chariot.  On  the  import  of  the  word  in  the  Hebrew,  and  tlio  Alexandrian  version, 
see  Bibl,  Drusius,  Bochart,  Gesenius. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  393 

batants  and  guards  about  him,  sunk  into  the  depths  like  a  stone, 
when  he  fled  before  the  power  of  God  that  was  with  Constantine, 
and  passed  through  the  river  in  his  way,  over  which  he  had 
formed  a  bridge  by  joining  boats,  and  thus  prepared  the  means 
of  his  own  destruction.  Here  one  might  say,  "  he  digged  a  pit 
and  opened  it,  and  he  fell  into  the  ditch  that  he  made,  his  mis- 
chief shall  fall  upon  his  own  head,  and  his  ini(]uity  descend 
upon  his  own  pate."  Thus,  then,  the  bridge  of  boats  over  the 
river  being  broken,  the  crossing  began  to  cease,  and  immediately 
the  vessels  with  the  men  sunk,  and  were  destroyed,  and  the  most 
impious  tyrant  himself  first  of  all,  then  the  guards  that  he  had 
around  him,  just  as  the  divine  oracles  declare,  sunk  like  lead  in 
the  swelling  floods.  So  that  justly  might  those  who  obtained  the 
victory  from  God,  if  not  in  word,  at  least  in  deeds,  similar  to  those 
whom  that  great  servant  of  God,  IMoscs  led  on,  sing  and  say  the 
same  that  they  sang  against  that  impious  tyrant  of  old.  "  Let  us 
sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously.  The  horse 
and  his  rider  he  hath  cast  into  the  sea :  the  Lord  is  my  helper 
and  defender,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation.  Who  is  like  unto 
thee,  0  Lord,  among  the  gods  ;  who  is  like  unto  thee,  glorious  in 
holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders." 

Such,  and  the  like  expressions,  did  Constantine  sing  to  God,  the 
universal  sovereign  and  author  of  the  victory  by  his  deeds,  as  he 
entered  Rome  in  triumph.  All  the  senate  and  others  of  illustri- 
ous rank,  together  with  their  wives  and  infant  children,  with  the 
whole  Roman  people,  received  him  as  their  deliverer,  their  saviour, 
and  benefactor,  with  cheerful  countenances  and  hearts,  wath  bless- 
ings and  unbounded  joy.  But  he,  according  to  the  piety  deeply 
implanted  in  him,  neither  exulting  in  the  shouts  that  were  raised, 
nor  elated  by  the  plaudits  bestowed  upon  him,  well  perceiving 
the  assistance  which  he  had  received  from  God,  immediately 
commanded  a  trophy  of  the  Saviour's  passion  to  be  placed  in  the 
hand  of  his  own  statue.  And  when  they  had  erected  his  statue, 
thus  holding  the  salutary  sign  of  the  cross  in  his  right  hand,  in 
the  most  public  place  at  Rome,  he  commanded  the  following  in- 
scription to  be  written,  in  the  Roman  tongue,  as  follows : 

"  By  this  salutary  sign,  the  true  ornament  of  bravery,  I  have 
3D 


394  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

saved  your  city,  liberated  from  the  yoke  of  the  tyrant.  Moreover,  1 
have  restored  both  the  Senate  and  the  Roman  people  to  their  an- 
cient dignity  and  splendour."*  After  this,  Constantine  himself,  and 
bis  imperial  colleague  Licinius,  who  had  not  then  yet  been  per- 
verted into  that  madness  which  he  afterwards  evinced,  both  cele- 
brating and  praising  God,  as  the  author  of  all  their  successes, 
with  one  consent  and  resolve  drew  up  a  full  and  most  compre- 
hensive decree  respecting  the  Christians ;  and  sent  an  account 
of  the  wonderful  things  done  for  them  by  God,  the  victory  they 
had  obtained  over  the  tyrant,  and  the  law  itself  to  Maximinus, 
who  was  yet  sovereign  of  the  east,  and  pretended  friendship  to- 
ward them.  But  he,  tyrant  as  he  was,  was  greatly  troubled  at 
what  he  learned.  Then,  in  order  not  to  seem  disposed  to  yield 
to  others,  nor  to  suppress  what  was  commanded,  for  fear  of  those 
who  had  commanded,  as  if  he  acted  on  his  own  authority,  he  of 
necessity  addressed  the  following  decree,  first  to  the  governors 
under  him,  respecting  the  Christians,  falsely  and  fictitiously  al- 
leging against  himself  what  had  never  been  done  by  him.f 

Copy  of  the  translated  epistle  of  the  tyrant  Maximinus. 

"Jovius  Maximinus  Augustus,  to  Sabinus:  I  trust  that  it  is 
obvious  to  your  gravity  and  to  all  men,  that  our  sovereigns  and 
parents,  Diocletian  and  Maximinus,  when  they  saw  almost  all 
men  abandoning  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  attaching  them- 
selves to  the  people  of  the  Christians,  rightly  ordained  that  all 
men  that  swerved  from  the  worship  of  the  same  immortal  gods 
should  be  reclaimed,  by  the  infliction  of  punishment  and  pain,  to 
the  worship  of  the  gods.  At  the  time,  however,  when  I  first 
came  to  the  east,  under  favourable  auspices,  and  ascertained  that 
great  numbers  of  men,  capable  of  rendering  service  to  the  repub- 
lic, were  banished  by  the  judges  for  said  reason,  I  issued  or- 

*  In  the  Greek  style  of  this  inscription,  we  may  see  some  traces  of  the  Latin 
original. 

f  Our  author  here  represents  Maximinus  guilty  of  the  double  inconsistency  of 
attempting  to  give  a  fair  colouring  to  his  proceedings  against  the  Christians,  al- 
though his  conduct  and  procedure  had  wanted  even  the  shadow  of  appearance,  and 
in  his  very  defence,  saying  what  was  in  fact  a  reproach  to  himself. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  395 

ders  to  each  of  the  judges,  that  in  future  none  of  these  should 
behave  with  severity  to  the  provincials,  but  rather  reclaim  them 
to  the  worship  of  the  gods,  by  exhortation  and  flattery.     Then, 
therefore,  whilst,  agreeably  to  my  orders,  the  injunctions  were 
observed  by  the  judges,  it  happened  that  no  one  of  the  countries 
in  the  east  was  either  banished  or  insulted,  but  rather  that  they 
were  reclaimed  to   the  worship  of  the  gods,  from  the  fact  that 
nothing  severe  was  done  against  them.      After  this,  however, 
when  a  year  had  passed  away,  I  arrived  under  fortunate  circum- 
stances at  Nicomedia,  and  made  my  stay  there,  and  citizens  of 
that  place  came  to  me  with  the  statues  of  the  gods,  greatly  in- 
treating  me,  that  by  all  means  this  people  should  not  be  suffered 
to  dwell  in  their  country.*  But  when  I  ascertained  that  many  men 
of  the  same  religion  dwelt  in  these  parts,  I  gave  them  this  an- 
swer :    That  indeed,  I  cheerfully  thanked  them  for  this  petition, 
but  perceived   this   was   not  alik-e   requested  by   all.     If,  how- 
ever, there  were  some  that  persevered  in  this  superstition,  that 
each  one  had  the  option  to  live  as  he  pleased ;  even  if  they  wished 
to  adopt  the  worship  of  the  gods.     Nevertheless  I  deemed  it  ne- 
cessary to  give  a  friendly  answer  both  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ni- 
comedia and  the  other  cities,  which  had  so  earnestly  and  zea- 
lously presented  the  same   petition,   viz.,  that  not  one  of  the 
Christians  should  be  permitted  to  dwell  in  their  cities,  because 
this  same  course  was  observed  by  all  the  ancient  emperors,  and 
was  acceptable  to  the  immortal  gods,  by  whom  all  men  and  the 
whole  administration  of  the  republic  subsists,  and  also,  that  I 
would  confirm  this  same  petition  which  they  had  presented  for 
the  worship  of  the  immortal  gods.     Wherefore,  although  there 
have  been  before  this,  letters  sent  to  your  devotedness,  and  it 
has  in  like  manner  been  ordered  that  the  rulers  should  attempt 
nothing  harsh  against  those  provincials  that  are  desirous  of  ob- 
serving this  course,  but  that  they  should  deal  mildly  and  mode- 
rately with  them,  nevertheless  that  they  may  suffer  neither  blows 
nor  injuries  from  the  beneficiariesf   or  the  other  common  sol- 

•  This  is  his  account  of  what  Eusebius  had  wittily  called  "  sending  an  embassy 
to  himself." 

+  The  beneficiarii  were  soldiers,  who  were  promoted  by  the  tribunes,  and  bad 

36 


396  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

diers,  I  deemed  it  consistent  to  remind  your  gravity  by  these 
letters,  that  you  should  cause  our  provincials  to  cultivate  their 
regard  for  the  gods,  rather  by  exhortations  and  mild  measures. 
Whence  if  any  one  should  determine  to  adopt  the  worship  of  the 
gods,  of  his  own  accord,  it  is  proper  that  these  should  be  readily 
received.  But  if  any  wish  to  follow  their  own  worship,  you  may 
leave  these  to  have  their  liberty.  Wherefore,  it  is  incumbent  on 
your  devoted  zeal  to  observe  what  is  committed  to  you,  and  that 
liberty  be  granted  to  no  one,  to  oppress  our  provincial  subjects 
with  violence  and  insult ;  whereas,  as  I  wrote  before,  it  is  more 
becoming  to  reclaim  our  provincials,  by  encouraging  and  inviting 
measures,  to  the  worship  of  the  gods.  But  that  this  our  will  may 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  all  our  subjects,  it  is  incumbent  on 
you  to  communicate  the  mandate  by  a  proclamation  issued  by 
you,"  When  he  had  thus  commanded  these  matters,  he  was 
neither  sincere  nor  credited  by  any,  but  was  evidently  forced 
by  necessity,  and  did  not  act  according  to  his  real  sentiments,  as 
was  obvious  from  his  duplicity,  and  perfidy,  after  the  former 
similar  grant.  No  one  therefore,  of  our  brethren,  ventured  to 
hold  meetings,  nor  even  to  appear  in  public,  because  neither  was 
this  the  import  of  the  writing,  only  enjoining  to  beware  of  ha- 
rassing us ;  but-not  commanding  that  we  might  hold  meetings, 
or  build  houses  of  worship,  or  perform  any  of  those  things  custo- 
mary with  us.  And  with  all  this,  those  advocates  of  peace  and 
piety,  Constantino  and  Licinius,  had  written  to  him  to  permit 
this,  and  had  granted  it  to  all  those  under  them  in  their  edicts 
and  ordinances.  But  this  most  impious  ruler  did  not  choose  yield- 
ing to  this  course;  until,  driven  by  the  justice  of  God,  he  was  al 
last  compelled,  though  unwillingly,  to  adopt  it. 

certain  privileges.  The  word,  as  it  here  occurs,  forms  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
manner  in  which  Greek  words  were  formed  from  the  Latm,  /S£,'£(p.xx\.oi.  The  li- 
quids I  and  r  were  frcciuently  interchanged. 


^  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  397 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  victory  of  the  pious  emperors. 

Such  a  cause  and  circumstances,  indeed,  beset  him  on  all  sides. 
Unable  as  he  was  to  sustain  the  magnitude  of  the  government  so 
undeservedly  conferred  upon  him,  in  consequence  of  his  own  in- 
capacity and  deficiency  in  the  qualities  of  a  prudent  and  imperial 
mind,  he  administered  his  affairs  in  a  foolish  and  disreputable 
manner,  and  yet  foolishly  elated  in  all,  with  a  fulsome  arrogance 
and  haughtiness,  even  toward  those  who  participated  in  the  go- 
vernment with  him,  and  who  were  his  superiors  both  in  birth  and 
education,  dignity  and  intelligence,  and  in  that  wisdom  and  that 
true  piety  which  is  the  crown  of  all,  he  yet  dared  to  boast  and 
proclaim  himself  the  first  of  ail  in  dignity  and  honours.  Pro- 
ceeding at  length  to  that  degree  of  madness  in  his  vanity  and 
haughtiness,  he  broke  the  league  that  he  had  made  with  Licinius, 
and  undertook  an  execrable  war.  After  this  he  soon  threw  all 
into  confusion;  alarming  every  city,  and  collecting  innumerable 
armies,  he  went  forth  to  give  him  battle,  elated  with  his  trust  in 
daemons,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  gods,  and  the  vast  multitudes 
of  his  soldiers.  Thus  engaging  in  battle,  he  was  deprived  of  the 
interposition  and  aid  of  God ;  the  victory  being  decreed  in  favour 
of  the  emperor  Licinius,  by  the  one  only  and  supreme  God. 
And  first,  he  lost  the  soldiery  upon  whom  hcs  relied  so  much,  and 
as  the  guards  about  him  all  abandoned  and  left  him  destitute,  and 
deserted  to  the  emperor  Licinius,  he  secretly  stripped  himself  as 
quickly  as  possible  of  the  imperial  robes,  which,  indeed,  he  had 
never  deserved,  in  a  cowardly,  abject,  and  efieminate  manner, 
and  mingled  with  the  crowd.  Then  he  made  his  escape,  lying 
concealed  in  the  fields  and  villages,  and  with  all  this  caution  and 
vigilance  for  safety,  scarcely  escaped  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
Thus  showing  in  facts  the  reality  and  truth  of  the  divine  oracles, 
in  which  it  is  said:  "A  king  is  not  saved  by  the  multitude  of  an 
host,  nor  shall  a  giant  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength ;  a  horse 
is  a  vain  thing  for  safety,  and  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  he 


398    ■  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  , 

shall  not  be  saved.  Behold,  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  those 
that  fear  him,  those  that  trust  in  his  mercy,  to  rescue  their  soul 
from  death." 

Thus  the  tyrant,  loaded  with  disgrace,  returned  to  his  own 
parts,  and  first  in  the  rage  of  his  mind,  he  slew  many  priests 
and  prophets  of  those  gods  whom  he  admired,  and  by  whose 
oracles  he  had  been  induced  to  undertake  the  war;  these  I  say 
he  slew,  as  jugglers  and  impostors,  and  above  all  as  the  betrayers 
of  his  own  safety.  Then,  at  length  giving  glory  to  the  God  of 
the  Christians,  he  immediately  enacted  a  full  and  final  decree  for 
their  liberty.  However,  being  seized  with  a  violent  disease,  he 
died  very  soon  after  it  was  issued.  The  law  enacted  was  as 
follows. 

Co-py  of^  the  tyranVs  ordinance,  in  regard  to  the  Christians,  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin  into  the  Greek. 

"  The  Emperor  Caesar,  Caius,  Valerius,  Maximinus,  Germani- 
cus,  Sarmaticus,  Pius,  Felix,  Invictus,  Augustus, — That  it  be- 
hoves us  by  all  means,  and  with  constant  endeavours  to  promote 
the  good  of  our  provincial  subjects,  and  to  wish  to  bestow  upon 
them  such  things  as  are  best  calculated  to  establish  the  advan- 
tage of  all,  and  whatever  may  contribute  to  their  common  benefit 
and  utility;  also,  whatever  is  adapted  to  the  public  advantage, 
and  is  agreeable  to  the  views  and  wishes  of  all ;  of  this  no  one 
can  be  ignorant ;  and,  moreover,  we  believe  every  one  can  refer 
to  past  events,  and  know  and  convince  himself  of  it.  When, 
therefore,  before  this  it  was  obvious  to  our  mind,  that  by  reason 
of  the  law  which  was  enacted  under  our  most  sacred  parents 
Diocletian  and  Maximian,  that  the  assemblies  of  the  Christians 
should  be  abolished,  many  oppressions  and  spoliations  were  made 
by  those  in  office,  and  that  this  evil  advanced  daily  to  a  great 
height,  to  the  injury  of  those  of  our  provincials,  for  whom  we 
are  particularly  anxious  to  make  the  necessary  provision;  as 
their  property  and  possessions  were  thus  destroyed  on  this  pre- 
text, letters  were  given  to  the  respective  rulers  of  the  provinces 
the  past  year,  in  which  it  was  enacted,  that  if  any  one  wished 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  399 

to  follow  this  practice,  or  this  observance  of  the  same  religion, 
that  he  was  at  liberty  to  pursue  this  his  purpose  without  hin- 
drance, and  without  obstruction  or  molestation  from  any  one ; 
and  also,  that  they  had  full  liberty  to  do  that  without  fear  or  sus- 
picion, what  each  one  preferred.  But  even  now  we  could  not 
but  perceive  that  some  of  our  judges  have  mistaken  our  injunc- 
tions, and  caused  our  subjects  to  be  in  doubt  as  to  our  ordi- 
nances, and  have  caused  them  to  proceed  with  too  great  reluc- 
tance to  the  performance  of  those  religious  observances  which 
they  prefer.  Now,  therefore,  that  all  suspicion  of  duplicity  and 
fear  may  be  removed,  we  have  decreed  that  this  ordinance 
should  be  published,  that  all  may  clearly  understand,  whosoever 
wish  to  adopt  this  sect  and  worship  are  at  liberty  to  do  so,  by 
this  privilege  granted  by  us,  so  that  as  each  one  M^ishes,  or  as  may 
be  agreeable  to  him,  thus  he  may  observe  that  religion  to  which 
he  has  been  accustomed.  And,  moreover,  liberty  is  granted  to 
build  their  churches.  But  that  this  indulgence  of  ours  may  be 
the  greater,  we  have  also  thought  proper  to  make  further  provision 
by  law,  that  if  any  houses  and  lands  happened  to  be  justly  the 
property  of  Chiistians  before  this,  and  by  order  of  our  parents, 
have  been  transferred  to  the  treasury,  or  have  been  confiscated 
by  any  city,  or  at  least  have  been  seized  and  sold  or  bestowed  as 
present  to  any  one,  all  these  possessions  we  have  ordered  to  be 
returned  again  to  the  former  possession  and  control  of  the  Chris- 
tians, that  all  persons  may  also,  in  this  respect,  have  knowledge 
of  our  piety  and  foresight." 

These  are  the  declarations  of  the  tyrant,  that  were  issued  not 
quite  a  year  after  the  ordinances  against  the  Christians  had 
been  published  by  him  on  brazen  tablets,  and  by  the  same  man, 
to  whom  but  a  little  before,  we  appeared  impious  and  abandoned 
wretches,  destructive  of  all  society,  so  that  we  were  not  allowed 
to  dwell,  indeed,  in  a  city,  or  even  the  country  and  the  desert ;  by 
this  same  one,  ordinances  and  laws  were  enacted  in  favour  of  the 
Christians.  .  And  they  who  a  little  before  were  destroyed  by  the 
tyrants  with  fire  and  sword,  the  food  of  wild  beasts  and  birds  of 
prey  in  the  very  eyes  of  the  tyi-ant,  and  sustained  every  kind 
of  punishment  and  torture,  and  the  most  miserable  death  as  in 
36* 


400  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

fidels  and  profane  persons,  these  very  same  are  now  acknow- 
ledged by  him  as  worshippers  having  religion,  and  are  allowed 
to  rebuild  their  churches ;  moreover,  the  tyrant  himself  confesses 
and  testifies  that  certain  rights  belong  to  them.  Having,  there- 
fore, made  these  confessions,  as  if  he  had  actually  obtained  some 
positive  benefit,  on  this  very  account,  he  suffered  less  than  was 
properly  his  due,  and  being  smitten  with  a  sudden  visitation  of  God, 
he  died  in  the  second  campaign  of  the  war.  But  his  end  was  not 
like  that  of  generals  and  military  commanders,  who  bravely  and 
heroically  expose  their  lives,  and  encounter  a  glorious  death  for 
glory  and  their  friends ;  but  as  one  hostile  to  God  and  religion, 
whilst  his  army  was  drawn  up  for  battle  in  the  field,  he  himself 
remained  at  home,  concealing  himself,  and  received  the  punish- 
ment that  he  deserved,  being  smitten  with  a  sudden  judgment  of 
God  over  his  whole  body ;  so  that  he  was  harassed  by  dreadful 
pains  and  torments,  and  prostrated  on  the  ground,  was  wasted 
away  by  hunger,  whilst  his  whole  flesh  dissolved  by  an  invisible 
fire  and  burning,  sent  from  God.  So  that  this  being  wasted 
away,  the  whole  aspect  of  his  former  shape  was  destroyed,  and 
there  was  only  left  of  him  a  kind  of  image,  reduced  by  length  of 
time  to  a  skeleton  of  dry  bones.  Indeed,  all  present  could  regard 
his  body  as  nothing  but  the  tomb  of  his  soul,  buried  in  one  that 
was  already  dead,  and  completely  dissolved.  And  as  the  heart 
began  to  burn  still  more  violently  in  the  very  recesses  of  his 
marrow,  his  eyes  burst  forth,  and  falling  from  their  sockets  they 
left  him  blind.  After  this  he  still  continued  to  breathe,  ac- 
knowledging many  things  to  the  Lord,  and  invoking  death.  At 
length,  however,  after  confessing  that  he  justly  suffered  these 
judgments  for  his  wanton  excesses  against  the  Christians,  he 
breathed  his  last. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  401 

CHAPTER  XL 

The  total  destruction  of  the  enemies  of  religion. 

Thus,  then,  Maximinus  being  removed  out  of  the  way,  who 
had  proved  the  worst  of  all  the  surviving  enemies  of  religion,  by 
the  goodness  of  God,  the  omnipotent  ruler,  the  renovation  of  the 
churches  was  begun  from  the  very  foundations.  But  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  shining  forth  to  the  glory  of  the  supreme  God, 
enjoyed  greater  privileges  than  before,  whilst  the  impious  and 
profane  were  covered  with  shame  and  irrecoverable  disgrace. 
First  of  all,  Maximinus  himself,  being  publicly  announced  by  the 
emperors  as  the  public  enemy,  was  confirmed  to  be  the  most  im- 
pious and  detestable,  as  well  as  the  most  hostile  to  the  Deity,  by 
his  public  edicts.  And,  whatsoever  paintings  and  representations 
had  been  placed  in  honour  of  him  or  his  children,  in  every  city, 
some  were  forced  down  from  their  elevation,  and  torn  to  pieces 
or  broken,  others  were  destroyed  by  having  the  face  daubed 
with  black  paint.  Whatsoever  statues,  also,  had  been  erected 
to  his  honour,  were  likewise  cast  down  and  broken,  lying  exposed 
to  the  laughter  and  jests  of  those  that  were  disposed  to  insult  and 
wantonly  abuse  them.  Then,  also,  all  the  honours  of  the  other 
enemies  of  religion  were  removed.  All  that  favoured  the  party 
of  Maximinus  were  slain,  especially  those  that  had  been  distin- 
guished by  him  with  eminent  offices,  as  rulers,  for  their  flattery 
to  him,  in  their  insolent  excesses  against  our  faith.  Of  this  number 
was  Peucetius,  the  most  honoured,  and  revered,  and  dearest  of  all 
his  favourites,  wdio  had  been  consul  twice  and  thrice,  and  had  been 
appointed  by  him  prime  minister.  Culcianus,  also,  who  had  been 
promoted  through  every  grade  of  office,  and  who  was  also  promi- 
nent for  his  many  slaughters  of  Christians  in  Egypt.  There  were 
also  not  a  few  others,  by  whose  agency  especially,  the  tyranny 
of  Maximinus  had  been  augmented  and  confirmed ;  justice,  also, 
summoned  Theotecnus,  by  no  means  overlooking  the  evils  he  had 
done  against  the  Christians.  And  whilst  he  now  expected  to 
enjoy  himself,  after  he  had  erected  the  statue  at  Antioch,  and 
3E 


402  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

was  now  promoted  to  the  government  of  a  province,  Liclnius 
came  to  the  city  of  Antioch,  and  making  a  search  for  all  the  im- 
postors, he  put  the  prophets  and  priests  of  the  newly  wrought 
statue  to  the  torture,  asking  at  the  same  time,  how  they  came  to 
concoct  such  a  delusion.  And  when  unable  by  reason  of  the 
tortures  to  conceal  it  any  longer,  they  disclosed  that  the  whole 
secret  was  a  device  of  Theotecnus.  After  punishing  all  according 
to  their  deserts,  he  first  condemned  Theotecnus,  and  after  him  all 
the  partners  of  his  impostures,  to  death,  with  the  greatest  possible 
torments.  To  all  these  were  superadded  the  children  of  Maxi- 
minus,  whom  he  had  already  made  sharers  in  the  imperial  dig- 
nity with  his  titles  and  statues.  Also,  the  relatives  of  the  tyrants 
who  before  this  were  elated  and  boasting,  and  exercising  their 
power  over  all  men,  had  the  same  punishments,  together  with 
the  utter  disgrace  of  the  others,  inflicted  upon  them.  As  they 
would  neither  receive  instruction  nor  understand  the  exhortation 
given  in  the  Holy  Scriptures :  "  Trust  not  in  princes,  in  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  in  whom  there  is  no  safety.  For  his  breath  goeth 
from  him,  and  he  will  return  to  his  earth  again.  In  that  day  all 
their  thoughts  shall  perish."  Thus,  then,  the  impious  being 
cleared  away,  the  government  was  deservedly  reserved  secure, 
and  without  a  rival,  for  the  only  two,  Constantine  and  Licinius. 
These,  after  first  removing  the  hostility  to  God  out  of  the  way, 
and  sensible  of  the  great  benefits  conferred  on  them  by  his  good- 
ness, exhibited  ''oth  their  love  of  virtue  iind  God,  as  well  as  their 
piety  and  grautude  to  Him,  by  the  laws  they  enacted  in  favoui 
of  Christians. 


BOOK   X. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  peace  ivhich  teas  granted  us  by  divine  interposition. 

But  thanks  be  to  God,  the  omnipotent  and  universal  sovereign, 
thanks  also  to  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  of  our  souls,  Jesus 
Christ,  through  whom  we  pray  that  peace  will  be  preserved  to 
us  at  all  times,  firm  and  unshaken  by  any  temporal  molestation 
from  without,  and  troubles  from  the  mind  within.  Attended 
with  your  prayers,  O  most  holy  Paulinus,*  whilst  we  superadd 
this  tenth  book  to  the  preceding  ones  of  our  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, we  shall  dedicate  this  to  you,  announcing  you  as  the  seal 
of  the  whole  work.  Justly,  indeed,  shall  we  here  subjoin  in  a 
perfect  number,f  a  complete  discourse  and  panegyric  on  the  re- 
novation of  the  churches  yielding  to  the  spirit  of  God,  inviting  us 
in  the  following  manner :  "  Sing  to  the  Lord  a  new  song,  because 
he  hath  done  wonderful  works.  His  right  hand  hath  saved  him, 
and  his  holy  right  arm.  The  Lord  hath  mad»  known  his  salva- 
tion, his  righteousness  hath  he  openly  showed  in  the  sight  of  the 
heathen."  Thus,  then,  as  the  Scriptures  enjoin  upon  us  to  sing  a 
new  song,  we  shall  accordingly  show  that  after  those  dreadful 
and  gloomy  spectacles  and  events,  we  have  been  privileged  to 

*  Paulinus  was  bishop  of  Tyre,  and  Eusehius  here  dedicates  the  work  to  him, 
as  the  one  who  suggested  and  urged  liira  to  undertake  it. 

■j-  The  number  ten  is  called  perfect,  because  it  is  the  limit  and  close  of  our  sys- 
tem of  numeration ;  all  the  numbers  beyond  ten  being  only  combinations  of  this 
and  the  included  digits.  Shorting  has  overlooked  the  stress  which  our  author  in- 
tended to  lay  on  the  expression.  He  has  considered  it  as  a  mere  qualification  of 
panegyric.  It  may  be  obse^^'cd,  this  book  contains  the  celebrated  panegyric  de- 
livered by  Eusebius  at  the  renovation  of  the  cathedral  of  Tyre.  But  the  author 
seems  to  intend  the  whole  book  as  a  eulogy  upon  the  happy  reverse  of  affairs,  and 
therefore,  a  happy  close  of  the  whole  work.  He  now  seems  to  lay  aside  the  his- 
torian, and  to  swell  into  the  amplifications  of  the  orator. 

403 


m 


*-#"^* 
% 


404  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

see  such  things,  and  to  celebrate  such  things  as  many  of  the 
really  pious  and  martyrs  of  God,  before  us  ardently  craved  to 
see,  and  did  not  see  them,  and  to  kear,  and  did  not  hear  them. 
But  they,  indeed,  hastening  on  their  course,  obtained  "  what  was 
far  better ;"  being  transferred  to  the  heavens  themselves,  and  to 
the  paradise  of  celestial  pleasures.  But  we  freely  acknowledg- 
ing this  state  of  things  in  our  day  as  better  than  what  we  could 
expect,  have  been  beyond  measure  astonished  at  the  magnitude 
of  the  grace  manifested  by  the  author  of  our  mercies,  and  justly 
do  we  admire  and  adore  him  with  all  the  powers  of  our  mind, 
and  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  those  declarations  recorded, 
where  it  is  said,  "  come  hither  and  behold  the  works  of  God,  the 
wonders  that  he  hath  done  upon  the  earth ;  he  removeth  wars 
until  the  ends  of  the  earth,  he  breaketh  the  bow  and  snappeth 
the  spear  asunder,  and  burneth  the  shields  in  fire."  Rejoicing 
in  these  things  fulfilled  in  our  day,  we  shall  pursue  the  tenor  of 
our  history.  All  the  race  of  the  enemies  of  God  were  destroyed 
in  the  manner  we  have  stated,  and  were  thus  suddenly  swept 
away  from  the  sight  of  men,  as  the  divine  Word  again  declares : 
"  I  saw  the  wicked  lifted  up  and  exahed  like  the  cedars  of  Le- 
banon, and  I  passed  by,  and  lo,  he  was  not ;  and  I  sought,  and 
his  place  was  not  found."  And  now  a  bright  and  splendid  day, 
with  no  overshadowing  cloud,  irradiated  the  churches  in  the  whole 
world  with  its  celestial  light ;  neither  was  there  any  indisposition 
even  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  strangers  to  our  faith,  to 
enjoy  with  us  the  same  blessings,  or  of  sharing  at  least  in  the 
overflowings  of  these  as  they  were  provided  from  God. 


CHAPTER   11. 

The  restoratmi  of  the  churches. 

All  men,  then,  were  liberated  from  the  oppressiaii  of  the 
tyrant,  and  those  who  had  been  delivered  from  the  miseries  pre- 
viously existing,  acknowledged,  one  in  one  way,  and  another  in 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  405 

another,  that  the  only  true  God  was  tlie  protector  of  the  pious. 
To  us  especially,  all  whose  hopes  are  suspended  on  the  Christ  of 
God,  there  was  an  incessant  joy,  and  there  sprung  up  for  all  a 
certain  celestial  gladness,  seeing  every  place,  which  but  a  short 
time  before  had  been  desolated  by  the  impieties  of  the  tyrants, 
reviving  again,  and  recovering  as  from  a  long  and  deadly  dis- 
temper, temples  again  rising  from  the  soil  to  a  lofty  height,  and 
receiving  a  splendour  far  exceeding  those  that  had  been  formerly 
destroyed.  Moreover,  those  who  held  the  supreme  power,  con- 
firmed the  privileges  granted  us  by  the  divine  beneficence  to  a 
still  wider  and  greater  extent  by  their  constant  decrees  in  favour 
of  the  Christians,  and  epistles  of  the  emperor  were  issued,  ad- 
dressed to  the  bishops,  with  honours  and  superadded  donations 
of  monies.  Of  which  it  may  not  be  singular  to  insert  extracts 
in  the  proper  place  in  this  book,  as  in  a  certain  sacred  tablet,  as 
we  have  translated  them  from  the  Latin  into  the  Greek  language 
that  they  may  remain  recorded  for  those  that  come  after  us. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  dedications  of  the  churches  in  all  places. 

After  tliis  the  sight  was  afforded  us  so  eagerly  desired  and 
prayed  for  by  all,  the  festivals  of  dedications  and  consecrations 
of  the  newly  erected  houses  of  prayer  throughout  the  cities. 
After  this  the  convention  of  bishops,  the  concourse  of  foreigners 
from  abroad,  the  benevolence  of  people  to  people,  the  unity  of 
the  members  of  Christ  concurring  in  one  harmonious  body.  Then 
was  it  according  to  the  prophetic  declaration,  mystically  indi- 
cating what  would  take  place,  "  bone  was  brought  to  bone,  and 
joint  to  joint,"  and  whatsoever  other  matters  the  divine  Word 
faithfully  intimated  before.  There  was,  also,  one  energy  of  the 
divine  spirit,  pervading  all  the  members,  and  one  soul  among  all, 
one  and  the  same  ardour  of  faith,  and  one  song  of  praise  to  the 
Deity.     Yea,  now  indeed,  complete  and  perfect  solemnities  of 


406  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  prelates  and  heads  of  the  church,  sacred  performances  of 
sacred  rites,  and  solemn  rituals  of  the  church.  Here  you  might 
near  the  singing  of  psalms  and  the  other  voices  given  us  from 
God,  there  divine  and  sacred  mysteries  performed.  The  mystic 
symbols  of  our  Saviour's  passion  were  celebrated,  and  at  the  same 
time  every  sex  of  every  age,  male  and  female,  with  the  whole 
power  of  the  mind,  and  with  a  mind  and  heart  rejoicing  in  prayer 
and  thanksgiving,  gave  glory  to  God  the  author  of  all  good. 
Every  one  of  the  prelates  present,  also,  delivered  panegyric  dis- 
courses, desirous  of  adding  lustre  to  the  assembly  according  to 
the  ability  of  each. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Panegyric  on  the  splendour  of  our  affairs. 

And  a  certain  one*  of  those  of  moderate  capacity,  who  had 
composed  a  discourse,  advanced  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly 
where  many  pastors  were  present,  as  in  the  congregations  of 
churches,  and  whilst  all  attended  in  decency  and  silence,  he  ad- 
dressed himself  as  follows,  to  one  who  was  the  best  and  most 
pious  of  bishops,  and  by  whose  zeal  principally  the  temple  in 
Tyre,  by  far  the  most  noble  in  Phoenicia,  was  built. 

Panegyric  on  the  building  of  the  churches,  addressed  to  Paulinus 
bishop  of  Tyre. 

"Friends,  and  priest  of  God,  and  ye  who  are  clad  in  the  sacred 
gown,f  adorned  with  the  celestial  crown  of  glory,  the  inspired 

*  Eusehms  here  means  himself,  and  addresses  the  bishop  of  the  church  of  Tyre. 
We  cannot  conceive  how  translators  could  make  our  author  here  speak  of  his 
merits,  as  Valesius  and  Shorting ;  he  modestly  states  merely  his  moderate  quali- 
fications, !*  T<«V   iTTi'.rA^V. 

■j-  The  gown  here  mentioned,  derived  its  name  from  its  extending  down  to  the 
feet :  ^ro J>)pi). 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  40T 

unction  and  the  sacerdotal  garment  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
thou,  O  excellent  ornament  of  this  new  and  holy  temple  of  God, 
endowed  by^  him  with  the  wisdom  of  age,  and  yet  who  hast  ex- 
hibited the  pi-ecious  works  and  deeds  of  youthful  and  vigorous 
virtue,  to  whom  God  himself,  who  comprehends  the  universe,  has 
granted  the  distinguished  privilege  of  rebuilding  and  renewing  it 
to  Christ,  his  first  begotten  and  only  begotten  Word,  and  to  his 
holy  and  divine  spoLise ;  whether  one  might  call  thee  a  new  Be- 
seleel,*  the  architect  of  a  divine  tabernacle,  or  a  Solomon,  the 
king  of  a  new  and  better  Jerusalem,  or  a  new  Zerubbabel,  su- 
peradding a  glory  to  the  temple  of  God,  much  greater  than  the 
former.  You,  also,  O  nurslings  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  the  habi- 
tation of  excellent  discourses,  school  of  modesty,  and  the  devout 
and  religious  auditory  of  piety.  Long  since,  indeed,  we  were 
allowed  the  privilege  of  raising  hymns  and  songs  of  praise  to 
God,  when  v^'e  learned  from  hearing  the  sacred  Scriptures  read, 
the  wonderful  deeds  of  God,  and  the  benefits  of  the  Lord  con- 
ferred upon  men,  and  whom  we  were  taught  to  repeat,  *  O  God, 
we  have  heard  with  our  ears,  our  fathers  have  told  us,  the  work 
that  thou  didst  in  those  days,  in  the  days  of  old.'  But  now  as  we 
perceive  the  lofty  arm  and  the  celestial  hand  of  our  all-gracious 
and  omnipotent  God  and  king,  not  only  by  the  hearing  and  the 
report  of  words,  but  by  deeds  ;  and,  as  we  may  say,  with  our 
oWn  eyes,  as  we  contemplate  those  faithful  and  true  declarations 
recorded  in  times  of  old,  we  may  raise  another  song  of  triumph, 
and  exclaim,  and  appropriately  say,  '  as  we  have  heard,  so  have 
we  seen,  in  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  the  city  of  our  God.' 
And  in  what  city  but  in  this  newly  built  and  framed  by  God  ? 
*  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  foundation 
of  the  truth.'  Concerning  which  another  passage  of  the  holy 
Scriptures  thus,  declares :  '  Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee, 
thou  city  of  God ;'  into  which  the  all-gracious  God  having  collect- 
ed us  by  the  grace  of  his  only  begotten,  let  each  one  here  as- 
sembled only  sing,  cry  aloud,  and  say :  '  I  was  glad  when  they 
said  unto  me,  we  will  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord ;'  and  again, 

•  The  name  is  written  in  our  version,  Bezaleel.     Exod.  ixxv.  31. 
37 


408  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

*  Lord  I  have  loved  the  beauty  of  thine  house,  and  the  place 
■where  thine  honour  dwelleth.'  And  not  only  individually,  but 
all  together  with  one  breath  and  one  soul,  let  us  wilii  veneration 
exclaim,  '  Great  is  the  Lord,  and  highly  to  be  praised  in  the  city 
of  our  God,  even  upon  his  holy  hill.'  For  he,  indeed,  is  truly 
great,  and  great  is  his  habitation,  sublime,  and  spacious,  and 
comely  in  beauty  beyond  the  sons  of  men.  '  Great  is  the  Lord 
who  only  doeth  wonderful  things,  and  things  past  finding  out, 
glorious  and  stupendous  things  which  cannot  be  numbered. 
Great  is  he  who  changeth  the  seasons  and  times,  who  settcth  up 
and  debaseth  kings,  who  raiseth  the  poor  from  the  ground,  and 
exalteth  the  beggar  from  the  dunghill.  He  hath  thrust  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seats,  and  hath  exalted  the  humble  from  the 
earth.  He  hath  filled  the  hungry  with  good  things,  and  hath 
broken  in  pieces  the  arms  of  the  proud.'  He  has  confirmed 
the  record  of  ancient  events,  not  only  to  the  faithful,  but  to  the 
unbelievers.  '  He  that  worketh  miracles,  he  that  doeth  mighty 
deeds ;  He,  that  Lord  of  the  universe,  the  Creator  of  the  whole 
world,  the  omnipotent  one  and  only  God.  In  obedience  to  him 
we  '  sing  a  new  song,  who  alone  doeth  wonderful  things,  because 
his  mercy  endureth  for  ever;  that  smiteth  mighty  kings  and 
slayeth  strong  kings,  because  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever ;  for 
the  Lord  hath  remembered  us  in  our  humiliation,  and  hath  deli- 
vered us  from  our  enemies.'  And  may  we  never  cease  to  cele- 
brate the  Father  of  all  with  these  praises.  Him  also,  we  would 
extol,  and  bear  his  name  constantly  upon  our  lips,  the  second 
cause  of  our  mercies,  the  instructor  in  divine  knowledge,  teacher 
of  true  religion,  destroyer  of  the  impious,  slayer  of  tyrants,  the 
reformer  of  the  world,  and  the  Saviour  of  us  when  our  condition 
was  desperate,  our  Lord  Jesus.  For  he  alone  as  the  only  all- 
gracious  Son  of  the  all-gracious  Father,  according  to  the  pur- 
pose of  his  Father's  benevolence,  readily  and  freely  assuming 
the  nature  of  us  who  lay  prostrate  in  the  depths  of  destruction, 
like  an  excellent  physician,  who,  '  for  the  sake  of  saving  those 
who  are  labouring  under  disease,  examines  their  sufferings,  han- 
dles their  foul  ulcers,  and  from  others  miseries  produces  grief 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  409 

and  pains  to  himself,'*  has  saved  us,  not  only  struggling  with 
dreadful  ulcers,  and  wounds  already  putrid,  but  even  lying  among 
the  dead,  and  rescued  us  to  himself  from  the  very  jaws  of  death. 
For  none  of  those  in  heaven  liad  such  power  at  command,  as  to 
promote  the  salvation  of  so  many  without  detriment.  But  he 
alone,  after  having  reached  the  deplorable  corruption  of  our  race, 
he  alone  taking  upon  him  our  labours,  and  bearing  the  punish- 
ment of  our  iniquities,  recovering  us,  not  merely  half  dead,  but 
altogether  foetid  and  offensive,  in  tombs  and  sepulchres,  both  of 
old  and  new,  by  his  gracious  love  saves  us  still  beyond  the  hope 
and  expectation  of  others,  and  even  of  ourselves,  and  liberally 
imparts  to  us  the  abundance  of  his  Father's  blessings.  He, 
the  giver  of  life  and  of  light,  our  great  Physician,  King  and  Lord, 
the  Christ  of  God,  And  then,  indeed,  when  the  whole  human 
race,  once  lay  buried  in  gloomy  night  and  the  depths  of  dark- 
ness, by  the  delusions  of  execrable  daemons,  and  the  machina- 
tions and  influences  of  malignant  spirits,  as  soon  as  he  appeared, 
as  the  wax  melts  under  the  rays  of  the  sun,  he  dissolved  the  knotty 
and  entangled  bonds  of  our  iniquities,  by  the  rays  of  his  light. 
But  when  malignant  envy  and  the  mischievous  spirit  of  iniquity, 
almost  bursting  asunder  at  such  a  display  of  grace  and  benevo- 
lence, was  now  arraying  all  his  deadly  forces  against  us,  and  like 
a  dog  in  a  fit  of  madness,  first  gnashing  his  teeth  at  the  stones 
cast  at  him,  and  pouring  his  rage  kindled  by  his  assailants,  against 
inanimate  weapons,  he  levelled  his  savage  ferocity  at  the  stones 
of  the  oratories  and  lifeless  materials  to  produce,  as  he  supposed, 
the  desolation  of  the  churches.  Afterwards,  however,  he  issued 
dreadful  hissings  and  serpentine  voices,  sometimes  by  the  threats 
of  impious  tyrants,  sometimes  by  the  blasphemous  ordinances 
of  profane  governors ;  and  moreover,  he  himself,  pouring  forth 
death,  and  infecting  the  souls  captured  by  him  with  his  pestilen- 
tial and  destructive  poison,  almost  destroyed  them  with  the  deadly 
sacrifices  to  dead  idols,  and  caused  every  sort  of  beast  in  the  shape 
of  man,  and  every  savage,  to  assault  us. .    Then  the  Angel  of  the 

•  This  is  a  quotation  from  some  poet,  and  seems  to  belong  to  Sophocles  or 
^schylus.  The  verses  in  the  original  are  iambics ;  but  the  poem  from  which 
they  are  taken  is  lost. 

3F 


410  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

mighty  council,  the  great  Captain  and  Leader  of  the  armies  of 
God,  after  a  sufficient  exercise  which  the  greatest  of  the  sol- 
diers of  his  kingdom  had  exhibited  in  their  patience  and  perse- 
verance, again  suddenly  appeared,  and  destroying  what  was 
liostile,  and  annihilating  his  foes,  so  that  they  scarcely  appeared 
to  have  had  a  name.  But  those  that  were  his  friends  and  of 
his  household,  he  advanced  not  only  to  glory  with  all  men,  but 
now  also,  with  celestial  powers,  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the 
stars,  the  whole  heavens  and  the  world.*  So  that  now  what 
never  happened  before,  the  supreme  sovereigns,  sensible  of  the 
honour  conferred  upon  them  by  him,  now  spit  upon  the  faces  of 
idols,  trample  upon  the  unhallowed  rites  of  deemons,  ridicule 
the  ancient  delusion  of  their  ancestors,  and  acknowledge  only 
the  one  and  true  God,  the  common  benefactor  of  all  and  of 
themselves.  They  also  confess  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  as  the 
universal  king  of  all,  and  proclaim  him  the  Saviour  in  their 
edicts,  inscribing  his  righteous  deeds  and  his  victories  over  the 
impious  M'ith  royal  characters,  on  indelible  records,  and  in  the 
midst  of  that  city  which  holds  the  sway  over  the  earth.  So  that 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  only  one  ever  acknowledged,  by 
the  supreme  rulers  of  the  earth,  not  as  a  common  king  among 
men,  but  worshipped  as  the  true  Son  of  God,  and  God  himself.f 
And  all  this  justly  too.  For  who  of  kings  at  any  time  has  ever 
advanced  to  such  a  height  of  excellence,  as  to  fill  the  ears  and 
the  tongues  of  all  men  with  his  own  nam&  1  What  king  ever 
ordained  laws  so  pious  and  wise,  and  extended  them  so  as  to  be 
read  by  all  men  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  its  remotest  bor- 
ders? Who  has  ever  abrogated  the  fierce  and  barbaious  cus- 
toms of  fierce .  and  barbarous  nations,  by  his  mild  and  most 
beneficent  laws  ?  Who  is  there,  when  assailed  by  all  for  whole 
ages,  that  has  ever  exhibited  a  virtue  far  surpassing  man,  so  as 
to  rise  and  flourish  again  from  day  to  day,  throughout  the  whole 
world  ?     Who  is  there  that  has  ever  established  a  nation  never 

*  These  expressions,  "  celestial  powers,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,"  may  be  regarded 
as  oriental  hyperbole,  for  the  "powers  that  be."  What  immediately  follows, shows 
tliat  Eusebius  means  the  reigning  emperors. 

j-  The  original  here  is  «uT»3ioi ,  God  himself,  or  very  God. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  mSTORY.  411 

heard  of  before,  not  concealed  in  a  corner  of  the  earth,  but 
spread  over  every  part  of  it  under  the  sun  1  Who  has  so  forti- 
fied his  soldiers  witli  the  arms  of  piety,  that  their  souls  more 
firm  than  adamant,  shine  resplendent  in  the  contest  against  their 
antagonists  ?  What  king  ever  prevailed  to  such  an  extent,  as  to 
lead  on  his  armies  after  death,  rear  trophies  against  his  enemies, 
and  fill  every  place  and  city  and  region,  whether  Grecian  or  bar- 
barian, with  his  royal  palaces  and  tiie  consecrations  of  his  sacred 
temples  ?  Witness  the  splendid  ornaments  and  donations  of  this 
very  temple,  which  themselves  are  noble  and  truly  grand,  wor- 
thy of  admiration  and  astonishment,  and  expressive  symbols  of 
our  Saviour's  kingdom.  Truly  '  he  hath  spoken,  and  they  were 
made ;  he  hath  commanded,  and  they  were  created.'  For  what 
was  there  to  resist  the  beck  of  the  universal  King,  the  universal 
Prince,  and  God,  the  Word  himself.*  It  would  require  a  pecu- 
liar leisure  to  survey  and  explain  each  particular  minutely ;  and 
not  only  this,  but  to  explain  how  great  and  powerful  the  alacrity 
of  those  who  have  laboured  in  the  work,  has  been  judged  by 
him  whom  we  celebrate,  who  looks  into  the  temple  within  our 
souls,  and  surveys  the  building  of  living  and  moving  stones,  hap- 
pily and  securely  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone. 
Whom,  indeed,  not  only  those  of  that  ancient  building  no  longer 
existing,  have  rejected ;  but  also,  those  of  the  building  now  ex- 
isting, that  vast  multitude  of  men,  wretched  architects  of  the 
wicked  as  they  are.f  But  the  Father  having  proved  him  now 
as  well  as  then,  has  established  him  as  the  head  of  the  corner  of 
this  our  common  church.  This,  therefore,  the  living  temple  of 
the  living  God,  formed  of  yourselves,  I  say,  is  the  greatest  and 
the  truly  divine  sanctuary,  whose  inmost  shrines,  though  invisible 
to  the  multitude,  are  really  holy,  a  holy  of  holies.  Who,  when 
he  has  viewed  it  within,  would  venture  to  declare  it?  But  who 
could  ever  penetrate  its  sacred  enclosures,  save  only  the  great 

•  The  expression  here,  is  kutcu  ©s3«  >.05-ou. 

•j-  Eusebius  here  alludes  to  the  two  dispensations,  Jewish  and  Christian,     The 
former  building  had  passed  away ;  the  latter  now  existing,  was  still  rejected  by  thd 
multitude  of  the  heathen  world, 
37^ 


412  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY 

High  Priest  of  all,  who  alone  has  the  right  and  fower  to  search 
out  the  mysteries  of  every  human  and  rational  soul  ?  Next  to 
him,  however,  the  second  place*  immediately  devolves  on  one 
alone  of  his  equals,  the  presiding  prelate  and  leader  of  this  host, 
who  has  been  honoured  by  the  first  and  great  High  Priest  himself 
with  the  second  rank  in  this  sanctuary,  and  has  been  appointed 
by  him  as  his  courtier  and  interpreter,  and  the  shepherd  of  your 
spiritual  (divine)  flock,  obtaining  this  people  of  yours  as  his  por 
tion  by  the  judgment  and  allotment  of  the  Father ;  a  new  Aaron 
or  another  Melchisedech  assimilated  to  the  Son  of  God,  continu- 
ino-  and  always  preserved  by  him  in  accordance  with  the  com- 
mon wishes  and  prayers  of  you  all.  To  him,  therefore,  alone, 
let  it  be  granted,  if  not  in  the  first  place,  at  least  in  the  second, 
after  the  first  and  supreme  High  Priest,  to  inspect  and  superintend 
the  observation  and  state  of  your  inmost  souls.  As  he  by  expe- 
rience and  length  of  time  has  diligently  examined  each  one,  and 
by  his  zeal  and  care  has  disposed  all  of  you  to  cultivate  the  order 
and  doctrine  of  piety ;  capable,  also,  as  he  is  above  all,  to  give 
reasons  adequate  to  the  works  which  he  himself  with  the  divine 
assistance  has  framed.  Our  first  and  great  High  Priest,  saith  the 
Scripture,  'whatsoever  He  seeth  the  Father  doing,  these  things 
also  doeth  the  Son ;'  and  whatsoever  hef  seeth  Him  doing,  using 
these  things  as  archetypes  and  examples,  their  images  and  re- 
semblances, he  has  as  far  as  possible  expressed,  after  the  most 
perfect  likeness  in  his  own  works.  In  no  respect  inferior  to  that 
Beseleel,  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  himself  filled  with  wisdom,  and 
understanding,  and  whatever  other  knowledge  and  sldll  might  be 

*  A  scholiast  on  this  expression,  makes  the  remark  /:"  t:cuto  2<r;pii-.  Valesius 
videtur  existimavisse  scholiastem  hie  Eusebium  quasi  de  Christo  loquentem  in- 
tellexisse.  Sed  vir  doctus  hoc  errare  videtur.  Scholiastes  Eusebium  hie  impie- 
tatis  arguit  quod,  episcopo  secundum  gradum  dignitatis  a  Christo  attribuere  ausus 
est,  et  A^alesius  ipse  dicit  ia  loc. ;  "  fatendum  est  Eusebium  nimis  hie  tribuisse 
Paulino,  dum  ei  t^  lo-x  Jijy.pxia,  tanquam  ffiquali  et  collpgsE  Christi  adscribit; 
dum  Mclchisedecum  vocat."  Attamen  si  hsc  excusanda  sint,  eo  nomine  fortassis 
excusari  possint,  quod  Eusebius  noster  hie  oratorem,  (prope  dixisscm  poetam) 
magis  quam  theologum  egisse,  videtur.  Quis  nescit  orientalium  ingenii  ardoreia 
qui  ssEpe  extra  omnes  rerum  fines  excuml  1 

f  He,  refers  to  Paulinus,  looking  as  it  were  to  Christ. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  413 

necessary,  for  the  building  of  that  temple*  appointed  and  selected 
as  the  builder  of  that  edifice  of  a  temple  of  celestial  types,  a 
temple  given  in  symbols  and  figures.  Thus,  also,  he  has  framed 
and  fashioned  the  whole  Christ  complete,  the  word,  the  wisdom, 
the  light,  and  bearing  in  his  own  .soul  the  image  of  the  same, 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  with  what  joy  and  gladness,  v.ith  what  an 
abundant  and  liberal  mind,  and  wath  what  emulation  among  all 
of  you,  and  what  magnanimity  among  the  contributors,  ambi- 
tiously striving  that  none  should  be  behind  him  in  executing  the 
same  purpose,  he  has  framed  and  finished  this  magnificent  and 
noble  temple  of  God,  so  similar  in  its  character  to  the  copy  of 
that  better  temple,  the  visible  of  the  invisible.  And  what  also 
deserves  first  of  all  to  be  mentioned,  he  did  not  overlook  this 
place,  which  had  been  covered  with  filth  and  rubbish,  by  the  ar- 
tifices of  our  enemies ;  but  could  not  think  of  giving  way  to  the 
wickedness  of  those  who  were  the  authors  of  it,  though  he  was 
at  liberty  to  go  to  another  place,  there  being  innumerable  others 
in  the  city ;  and  thus  to  find  a  diminution  of  his  labour,  and  to  be 
relieved  from  trouble.  First,  he  prepared  himself  for  the  work. 
Then,  also,  after  strengthening  and  animating  the  people,  and 
forming  all  into  one  great  bod}^  he  performed  this,  the  first  of 
his  labours.f  Thinking  that  the  church  which  had  been  most 
assailed  by  the  enemy,  she  that  had  first  laboured  in  trials,  and 
that  had  sustained  the  same  persecutions  whh  us  and  before  us — 
this  church,  like  a  mother  bereft  of  her  children,  should  also  enjoy 
with  us  the  mercies  and  privileges  of  the  all-gracious  Giver. 
For  when  the  great  Shepherd  had  driven  away  the  wild  beasts, 
the  wolves,  and  every  fierce  and  savage  race,  and,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture,  had  broken  the  jaws  of  the  lions,  he  again 
condescended  to  collect  her  cliildren,  and  in  the  most  righteous 
manner  he  raised  the  fold  of  her  flock,  "  to  shame  the  enemy  and 
the  avenger:"  and  to  present  a  refutation  against  the  impious 
audacity  of  those  that  were  fighting  against  God.     And  now 

*  Our  author  calls  the  tabernacle  here,  by  a  metonymy,  the  temple. 

•j-  The  original  is  ^jx-oi-  ny^v.DTc,  a  gladiatorial  phrase  applied  to  combatants  and 
wrestlers,  and  referring  to  the  labours  of  Hercules,  particularly  that  of  cleansing 
the  Augean  stable. 


414  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

these  enemies  of  God  are  no  more,  because  they  never  were.* 
For  a  short  time,  indeed,  they  created  alarm,  whilst  themselves 
were  troubled ;  then  suffering  the  severe  punishment  which  they 
owed  to  divine  justice,  they  overturned  themselves,  and  friends, 
and  habitations  to  the  dust.  So  that  it  is  confessed  those  decla- 
rations inscribed  of  old  on  the  sacred  tablets,  are  proved  as  true 
by  facts,  in  whicli  the  divine  Word,  among  others,  also  asserts 
the  following  concerning  them :  '  The  ungodly  have  drawn  out 
the  sword,  they  have  bent  the  bow  to  cast  down  the  poor  and 
needy,  and  to  slay  such  as  ai-e  of  an  upright  walk.  Their  sword 
shall  pierce  through  their  own  heart,  and  their  bows  shall  be 
broken.'  And,  again, '  Their  memory  is  perished  with  a  sound, 
and  their  name  hast  thou  blotted  out  for  ever  and  ever.  Because 
when  they  were  in  miseries  they  cried,  and  there  was  none  to 
save,  even  to  the  Lord,  and  he  heard  them  not.  They  were 
boundf  and  fell,  but  we  are  raised  and  stand  upright.' 

"  That,  too,  which  was  declared  before,  in  the  following  words, 
'  O  Lord,  thou  shalt  annihilate  their  image  in  thy  city,'  is  truly 
manifested  to  the  eyes  of  all.  But  after  waging  a  war  against 
God,  like  the  giants,  they  terminated  their  lives  in  this  manner; 
whilst  she  "  which  was  desolate,  and  rejected  of  men,"  has  re- 
ceived that  consummation  that  we  have  seen,  for  her  patient  en- 
durance in  God,  so  that  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  seemed  to  utter 
these  things ;  '  Rejoice,  thirsty  desert,  let  the  desert  exult  and 
blossom  as  the  lily,  and  the  desert  places  shall  flourish  and  be 


*  This  expression  seems  to  have  been  misapprehended  by  Valesius  and  Shorting. 
It  simply  expresses  the  utter  nothingness  of  the  enemies  of  God.  No  expression 
could  represent  liuman  weakness  in  a  stronger  light  when  arrayed  against  Omni- 
potence. It  is  scarcely  hyperbolical  to  say  such  poxver  never  -was.  The  com- 
pound word  Suni^L^aq,  may  mean  either  hated  of  God,  or  God  haters,  according  as 
the  accent  is  on  the  ultimate  or  penultimate.  Valesius  reads  with  the  accent  on 
the  last  syllable,  which  would  justify  his  rendering  iiivisi  Deo.  Besides,  our  au- 
thor is  fond  of  antithesis,  particularly  if  aided  by  alliteration.  He  had  called  them 
bii/^i^xoi,  now  jss/iio-i.;.  We  have  given  the  most  comprehensive  sense  ;  as  men,  in 
the  order  of  Providence,  are  always  God  haters  before  they  can  be  pronounced 
Gud  hated. 

■j-  It  will  be  recollected,  we  translate  these  passages  from  our  author,  who  quotes 
the  Septuagint.     The  Greek  here  means  their  feet  tuere  dound  together. 


eccij:siastical  history.  415 

glad.  Be  strengthened,  ye  languid  hands,  and  ye  relaxed  knees. 
Be  consoled,  ye  weak  hearted  in  your  minds,  be  strong  and  fear 
not.  Behold  our  God  has  repaid  judgment,  and  he  will  repay. 
He  will  come  and  save  us.  For  he  says,  water  has  burst  forth 
in  the  desert,  and  a  pool  in  a  thirsty  land.  And  the  dry  land 
shall  become  a  pool,  and  a  well  of  water  shall  be  in  the  thirsty 
land.'  These  things,  uttered  in  ancient  oracles,  have  been  re- 
corded in  the  sacred  books.  But,  now,  these  things,  themselves, 
are  no  longer  addressed  to  us  in  m.ere  reports,  but  in  facts. 

"  This  desert,  this  dry  and  thirsty  land ;"  this  widow  and 
deserted  one,  whose  gates  they  cut  down  with  axes,  as  wood  in 
the  forest,  breaking  them  down  with  the  ax  and  the  hatchet, 
whose  books  they  destroyed,  and  whose  divine  sanctuary  they 
burned  with  fire,  whilst  they  profaned  the  habitation  of  his  name 
unto  the  ground,  and  all  that  passed  by  plucked  off  her  grapes, 
breaking  down  her  hedges;  she,  whom  the  wild  boar  of  the 
forest  has  rooted  up,  and  the  savage  wild  beast  has  devoured, 
now,  by  the  marvellous  power  of  Christ,  as  he  himself  would 
have  it,  has  blossomed  as  the  lily.  But,  even  then,  she  was 
chastened  at  his  nod,  as  by  a  provident  father :  '  For  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he 
receiyeth.'  Then,  after  being  chastened  in  measure,  as  far  as 
was  necessary,  she  was  commanded  to  rejoice  of  anew ;  and  she 
now  blossoms  as  the  lily,  and  exhales  her  divine  odour  among  all 
men.  For  it  is  said,  '  Water  gushed  forth  in  the  desert  the 
fountain  of  divine  regeneration  of  the  salutary  laver.  And  now 
she,  which  a  little  before  was  desolate,  is  changed  into  pools,  and 
a  well  of  living  water  has  gushed  out  upon  a  thirsty  land.' 
The  arms  formerly  languid  have  become  truly  strong,  and  these 
works  are  the  great  and  expressive  displays  of  invigorated  hands. 
Those  knees,  also,  that  were  formerly  debilitated  and  relaxed, 
now  recovering  their  former  firmness,  are  walking  in  a  straight 
course  on  their  way,  and  hastening  on  to  their  proper  fold  of  the 
al  -gracious  pastor.  And  are  there,  also,  some  that  were  alarmed 
and  overawed  by  the  threats  of  the  tyrants,  not  even  these  have 
been  overlooked  as  incurable  by  the  Saviour's  word,  but  he, 
thoroughly  healing  likewise  them,  raises  them  to  receive  conso- 


416  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

lation,  as  he  says,  '  Be  ye  comforted,  ye  dejected  in  mind,  be 
strong,  fear  not' 

"  This  our  new  and  excellent  Zerubbabel,  then  perceiving  by 
the  acute  hearing  of  his  mind,  the  sacred  oracles  declaring  that 
she  who  had  been  desolate  for  the  sake  of  her  God,  should  now 
enjoy  such  things  as  these,  after  her  severe  captivity,  and  the 
abomination  of  desolation,  did  not  neglect  this  dead  carcase. 
First  of.  all  with  prayers  and  supplications,  he  propitiated  the 
Father  with  the  common  consent  and  concurrence  of  you  all,  and 
calling  upon  the  only  one  who  can  raise  from  the  dead,  as  his 
aid  and  ally,  he  raised  her,  who  had  fallen,  after  he  had  cleansed 
and  healed  her  from  her  ills.  He  cast  around  her,  not  the  gar- 
ment of  old,  but  such  as  he  had  again  learned  from  the  sacred 
oracles,  clearly  declaring  :  '  And  the  glory  of  this  latter  house 
shall  far  exceed  the  former.'  '  Thus,  then,  embracing  a  much 
wider  space,  he  strengthened  the  outer  enclosure  with  a  wall  to 
compass  the  edifice,  that  it  might  be  a  most  secure  bulwark  to 
the  whole  work.  Then  raising  a  large  and  lofty  vestibule,  he 
extended  it  towards  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  ;  presenting  even 
to  those  standing  without  the  sanctuary,  a  full  view  of  those 
within,  all  but  turning  the  eyes  of  those  who  ai-e  strangers  to 
the  faith,  to  contemplate  its  entrance ;  so  that  no  one  can  pass 
by,  without  being  struck  in  his  mind  at  the  recollection  of  the 
former  desolation,  and  the  present  wonderful  transformation.  By 
this,  indeed,  he  also  hoped  that  the  individual  thus  smitten  would 
be  attracted  by  the  very  sight,  and  induced  to  enter.  And  on 
entering  within  the  gates,  he  has  not  permitted  you  to  enter  im- 
mediately, with  impui-e  and  unwashed  feet,  within  the  sanctuary, 
but  leaving  an  extensive  space  between  the  temple,  (the  nave) 
and  the  vestibule,  he  has  decorated  and  enclosed  it  with  four  in- 
clined porticoes  around,  presenting  a  quadrangular  space,  with 
pillars  rising  on  every  side.  Between  these  he  carried  round  the 
frame  latticed  railing,  rising  to  a  proportioned  and  suitable  height, 
leaving,  however,  the  middle  space  open,  so  that  the  heavens  can 
be  seen,  and  present  the  splendid  sky  irradiated  by  the  beams 
of  the  sun.  Here  too,  he  has  placed  the  symbols  of  the  sacred 
pui'ification",  by  providing   fountains  built  opposite  the  temple, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  417 

(nave)  which,  by  the  abundant  eflTusion  of  its  waters,  aflfbrds  the 
means  of  cleansing,  to  those  that  proceed  to  the  inner  parts  of 
the  sanctuary.  And  this  is  the  first  place  that  receives  those 
that  enter,  and  which  at  the  same  time  presents  to  those  that 
need  the  first  introduction,  both  a  splendid  and  a  convenient  sta- 
tion. After  passing  also  this  sight,  he  has  made  open  entrances 
to  the  temple,  with  many  other  inner  vestibules,  by  placing  again 
three  gates  on  one  side  towards  the  rising  sun.  Of  these  he  con- 
structed the  midde  one,  far  exceeding  those  on  each  side  in 
height  and  breadth,  embellishing  it  at  the  same  time  with  ex- 
ceedingly splendid  brazen  plates  bound  with  iron,  and  decorated 
with  various  sculpture,  superadding  them  as  guards  and  attend- 
ants to  a  queen.  In  the  same  way,  after  disposing  the  number 
of  the  vestibules,  also  with  the  porticoes  on  each  side  of  the 
whole  temple,  he  constructed  above  these,  different  openings  to 
the  building  for  the  purpose  of  admitting  more  light,  and  these 
lights  or  windows  he  also  decorated  with  various  kinds  of  orna- 
mental sculpture.  But  the  royal  temple  itself,  he  has  furnished 
with  more  splendid  and  rich  materials,  applying  a  generous  libe- 
rality in  his  expenses.  And  here,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  super- 
fluous, to  describe  the  dimensions,  the  length  and  the  breadth  of 
the  edifice,  the  splendid  elegance,  the  grandeur  that  surpasses 
description,  and  the  dazzling  aspect  of  works,  glittering  in  the 
face  of  the  speaker,  the  heights  rising  to  the  heavens,  and  the 
costly  cedars  of  Lebanon  resting  on  these,  which  have  not  been 
overlooked  by  the  divine  oracles  themselves,  when  they  say: 
'  The  forests  of  the  Lord  shall  rejoice,  and  the  cedai's  of  Lebanon 
which  he  planted.'  Why  should  I  now  detail  minutely  the  skil- 
ful architectural  arrangement,  and  the  exceeding  beauty  of  each 
of  the  parts,  when  the  testimony  of  the  eye  precludes  the  instruc- 
tion through  the  ear. 

"  For  when  he  had  thus  completed  the  temple,  he  also  adorned 
it  with  lofty  thrones,  in  honour  of  those  who  preside,  and  also 
with  seats  decently  arranged  in  order  throughout  the  whole,  and 
at  last  placed  the  holy  altar  in  the  middle.  And  that  this  again 
might  be  inaccessible  to  the  multitude,  he  enclosed  it  with  frame 
lattice  work,  accurately  wrought  with  ingenious  sculpture,  pre- 
3G 


418  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

senting  an  admirable  sight  to  the  beholders.  And  not  even  the 
pavement  was  neglected  by  him,  for  this,  too,  he  splendidly- 
adorned  w^ith  marble,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  rest,  and  to  the 
parts  out  of  the  temple.  He  pi'ovidcd  spacious  exhedras  and 
oeci  *  on  each  side,  united  and  attached  to  the  cathedral  (palace), 
and  communicating  with  the  entrances  to  the  middle  of  the  tem- 
ple. Which  buildings  were  erected  by  this  our  most  peaceful 
Solomon,!  the  founder  of  the  temple,  for  those  who  require  yet 
the  purification  and  the  sprinklings  of  water  and  the  holy  Spirit 
So  that  the  prophecy  repeated  above,  seems  to  consist  no  longer 
in  words,  but  in  facts  and  deeds :  '  For  the  glory  of  this  latter 
house  is  truly  far  beyond  the  former.' 

"  For  it  was  just  and  consistent,  that  as  her  (the  church)  pas- 
tor and  Lord  had  once  submitted  to  death  on  her  account,  and 
after  his  suffering  had  changed  that  vile  body,  which  he  assumed 
for  her  sake,  into  a  splendid  and  glorious  body,  and  had  conduct- 
ed the  flesh  that  had  been  dissolved  from  corruption  into  incor- 
ruption,  that  she  should  likewise  enjoy  these  dispensations^  of  our 
Saviour ;  because,  having  received  a  promise  of  far  better  things 
from  him,  the  far  greater  glory  of  a  regeneration,  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  an  incorruptible  body,  with  the  choir  of  the  angels  of  light, 
in  the  very  celestial  palace  of  God ;  above  all  these,  she  desires 
also  to  obtain  them  with  Christ  Jesus  himself,  her  all-gracious 
benefactor  and  Saviour  hereafter  for  ever.     In  the  mean  time, 

*  The  exhedrae  and  oeci  were  vestry-rooms  on  each  side  of  the  cathedral,  and 
connected  with  it.  On  each  side  of  the  edifice  there  was  a  long  passage  to  the 
body  or  nave  of  the  building,  and  these  exhedrse  and  oeci  were  in  the  same  right 
line,  and  communicated  with  them  by  doors.  They  were  also  baptisteries,  consis- 
tories, and,  in  general,  places  intended  for  the  various  subordinate  purposes  of  the 
church.  See  Valesius's  note  on  Book  III.  De  Vit.  Const,  ch.  1.  Also,  Bingham's 
Orig. 

■[■  Eusebius  takes  occasion  to  compliment  the  bishop  on  his  resemblance  to  the 
royal  founder  of  the  Jewish  temple,  in  the  similar  capacity  which  he  had  here  sus- 
tained. In  this  resemblance,  he  also  alludes  to  the  signification  of  Solomon's  name, 
peaceful. 

+  The  word  oixavoj^ix,  here  occurring,  is  used  by  our  author  in  the  comprehensive 
sense,  for  whatever  our  Saviour  did  for  our  salvation.  Here  it  is  evidently  applied 
not  only  to  the  death  but  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  419 

however,  in  the  present  world,  she  that  was  formerly  a  widow 
and  desolate,  and  now  decorated  with  the  flowers  of  divine  grace, 
has  truly  become  as  the  lily,  as  the  prophecy  declares,  and  re- 
ceiving the  bridal  garment,  and  covered  with  the  crown  of  glory, 
as  she  is  taught  to  exult  and  dance  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  pro- 
claims her  gratitude  in  joyous  language  to  God  her  king.  Let 
us  hear  her  own  words  :  '  I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  my 
soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God,  for  he  hath  clothed  me  with  the 
garment  of  salvation,  he  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of 
righteousness,  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  himself  with  ornaments, 
and  as  a  bride  adorneth  herself  with  jewels.  For  as  the  earth 
bringeth  forth  her  bud,  and  as  the  garden  cause th  the  things  sown 
in  it  to  spring  forth,  so  the  Lord  God  will  cause  righteousness  and 
praise  to  spring  forth  before  all  the  nations.'  Thus,  singing,  she 
exults  and  dances. 

"  In  the  same  words,  also,  that  celestial  spouse  and  word,  Jesus 
Christ,  himself  answers  her ;  Hear  the  Lord,  saying,  '  Fear  not 
because  thou  wast  abased,  neither  be  thou  confounded,  that  thou 
was  put  to  shame.  For  thou  shalt  forget  thy  past  shame  of  old, 
and  shalt  not  remember  the  shame  of  thy  widowhood  any  more. 
The  Lord  hath  n'ot  called  thee  as  a  woman  deserted  and  dejected, 
neither  as  a  woman  hated  from  her  youth,  saith  thy  God,  For 
a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken  thee,  but  with  great  mercy  will 
I  gather  thee.  In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a 
moment,  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee, 
saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer.'  '  Awake,  awake,  thou  that  hast 
drunk  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord  the  cup  of  his  fury,  thou  hast 
drunk  the  dregs  and  exhausted  them.  There  was  none  to  con- 
sole thee  of  all  the  sons  thou  didst  bring  forth,  neither  was  there 
any  to  take  thee  by  the  hand.  Behold,  I  have  taken  out  of  thine 
hand  the  cup  of  stumbling,  the  cup  of  my  fury,  and  thou  shalt 
no  more  drink  it  again.  But  I  will  put  it  into  the  hand  of  them 
that  afflict  thee,  and  that  have  humbled  thee.'  *  Awake,  awake, 
put  on  thy  ■  strength,  put  on  thy  glory,  shake  off  the  dust,  and 
arise  and  sit  down,  loose  thyself  from  the  bands  of  thy  neck. 
Lift  up  thine  eyes  round  about  thee,  and  behold  thy  children  are 
gathered  together.  Behold  they  are  gathered  and  come  to  thee. 
38 


420  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  thou  shalt  clothe  thyself  Mdth  them  all 
as  with  an  ornament,  and  thou  shalt  bind  them  on  thee  as  orna 
ments  on  a  bride.  For  thy  waste  and  desolate  places,  and  the 
land  of  thy  destruction,  shall  now  be  too  narrow  by  reason  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  they  that  would  swallow  thee  up  shall  be  far 
away.  The  children  which  thou  hast  lost  shall  say  in  thine  ears : 
'  The  place  is  narrow  for  me,  give  place  to  me  that  I  may  dwell.' 
Then  shalt  thou  say  in  thine  heart.  Who  hath  begotten  me  these? 
seeing  I  have  lost  my  children  and  am  a  widow  1  and  who  hath 
brought  up  these.  Behold,  I  was  left  alone.  But  these,  where 
had  they  been  V 

"  Such  were  the  oracles  uttered  before  by  Isaiah.  These  were 
the  declarations  respecting  us  anciently,  recorded  in  the  holy 
Scriptures.  It  was  just,  therefore,  that  we  should  at  some  time 
receive  their  truth  in  the  facts  themselves.  Since  then  the 
spouse  and  word  addressed  such  language  as  this  to  the  holy 
church  before ;  justly,  therefore,  has  this  our  bride-man  (bride- 
dresser,*)  raised  her  lying  desolate,  and  as  a  dead  carcase,  hope- 
less in  the  sight  of  men,  and  with  the  common  prayers  of  you 
all,  stretched  out  his  hands,  raised  her  up,  and  at  the  command 
of  God,  the  sovereign  king,  and  in  the  manifestation  of  the 
powers  of  Christ  Jesus,  caused  her  to  stand  upright.  And 
when  thus  raised,  he  so  ordered  and  established  her,  as  he  had 
learned  from  the  description  given  by  the  sacred  oracles.  Won- 
derful and  mighty,  therefore,  and  beyond  all  admiration  is  this 
work,  especially  to  those  who  attend  only  to  the  external  appear  • 
ance.  But  more  wonderful  than  wonders  are  those  archetypes, 
the  mental  prototypes  and  divine  exemplars,  the  renewals  of  the 
divine  and  spiritual  buildings  in  our  souls,  which  he,  tiie  Son  of 
God  himself,  framed  and  fashioned  according  to  his  own  image, 
and  to  which  every  where  and  in  all  respects  he  imparted  the 
likeness  of  God.  An  incorruptible  nature,  incorporeal,  reason- 
able, separate  from  all  earthly  mixture  and  matter,  an  intelli- 
gent existence.     And  having  once  created  herf  and  brought  her 

*  vu,t<iosTO>.o,-  here,  applied  to  Paulinus. 

■j-  Our  author  means  the  spiritual  church  of  which  he  had  just  spoken,  using  a  per-  ' 
aonification  in  the  pronoun  her,  as  common  with  the  Christian  fathers  as  it  is  with  u 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  421 

into  being  from  that  which  was  not,  he  also  wrought  her  into  3 
holy  spouse,  a  completely  sacred  and  holy  temple,  for  himself  and 
the  Father.  Which,  indeed,  himself  plainly  declares  and  professes 
in  the  following  words: '  I  will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them,  and 
will  be  their  God  and  they  shall  be  my  people.'  And  such,  indeed, 
is  the  perfect  and  purified  mind,  having  been  made  such  from  the 
beginning,  as  to  bear  the  image  of  the  celestial  Word.  By  the 
envy  and  jealousy  of  the  malignant  daemon,  however,  she  began  to 
be  fond  of  pleasures  and  fond  of  evil,  by  her  own  voluntary  choice, 
and  then  the  Divinity  retiring  from  her,  as  one  destitute  of  her 
protector,  she  became  an  easy  captive,  and  easily  exposed  to  the 
insidious  plots  of  those  who  had  long  envied  her  felicity.  And 
thus  assailed  by  the  batteries  and  machines  of  her  invisible  and 
spiritual  enemies,  she  fell  a  hideous  carcase.  So  that  there  was 
not  one  stone  of  her  virtue  remained  standing,  and  she  lay  com- 
pletely and  entirely  dead  upon  the  earth,  totally  stripped  and 
destitute  of  her  usual  and  natural  ideas  of  God.  But  as  she 
thus  lay  fallen  and  prostrate,  she  that  had  been  made  after  the 
im ige  of  God,  it  was  not  that  wild  boar  of  the  forest  that  we  see, 
but  some  destructive  deemon  and  spiritual  wild  beasts  that  laid 
her  waste.  These,  inflaming  her  with  passions,  as  with  the  burn- 
ing darts  of  their  own  iniquity,  set  fire  to  the  really  divine  sanc- 
tuary of  God,  and  profaned  the  tabernacle  of  his  name  to  the 
ground.  Then  buiying  the  unhappy  one  with  heaps  of  earth, 
they  totally  destroyed  every  hope  of  her  deliverance.  But  the 
divine  and  saving  Word,  who  careth  for  her,  after  she  had  en- 
dured the  deserved  punishment  of  her  sins,  again  recovered  and 
restored  her  to  the  full  confidence  of  the  all-gracious  mercy  of 
the  Father.  First,  then,  she  gained  the  favour  of  the  supreme 
imperial  rulers  themselves,  and  with  the  whole  world,  was  de- 
livered from  the  impious  tyrants,  tb.ose  destructive  and  tremen- 
dous enemies  of  all,  by  the  intervention  of  those  most  excellent 
and  divinely  favoured  princes.  Then  also,  the  men  who  were  his 
(Christ's)  familiar  friends,  those  formerly  consecrated  to  him  for 
life,  and  who,  concealed  as  in  a  storm  of  afflictions,  had  nevertiie- 
less  been  secretly  protected  by  their  God ;  these  were  led  forth 
by  him  to  the  light  and  honoured,  deservedly  by  the  munificence 


422  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

of  his  spirit.  Again,  then,  by  means  of  these  he  cleansed  and 
removed  the  filth  of  the  souls  who  a  little  before  had  been  pol- 
luted, and  with  the  spades  and  mattocks,  the  reproving  doctrines 
of  the  divine  word,  he  removed  all  the  accumulated  matter  of  im- 
pious commands.*  And  thus  when  he  had  made  the  ground  of 
your  mind  clear  and  bright,  then  he  committed  it  for  the  future 
to  this  f  most  wise  and  divinely  favoured  guide.  He,  as  in  other 
respects,  endowed  with  singular  judgment  and  prudence,  well 
capable  of  disciiminating  and  discerning  the  minds  of  those  com- 
mitted to  his  charge,  from  the  first  day  that  he  began  to  build,  as  I 
may  say,  has  not  ceased  to  the  present.  In  one  place  he  applied 
the  splendid  gold,  in  another,  the  refined  and  pure  silver,  and  the 
valuable  and  precious  stones  J  among  all,  so  that  a  sacred  and 
mystic  prophecy  is  again  fulfilled  by  facts  displayed  in  you,  when 
it  is  said,  '  Behold,  I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  carbuncles,  and 
lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires,  and  thy  bulwarks  of  jasper 
stone,  and  thy  gates  with  crystal,  and  thy  walls  with  chosen  stones, 
and  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and  great  shall 
be  the  peace  of  thy  children,  and  thou  shalt  be  built  in  right- 
eousness.' 

"  Building  therefore,  in  righteousness,  he  divided  the  strength  and 
means  of  the  whole  people,  according  to  a  due  estimate.  With 
some  §  indeed,  he  surrounded  only  the  exterior  inclosure,  walling 
it  up  with  an  unwavering  faith.  For  such  is  the  great  multitude 
and  mass  of  the  people,  that  they  are  incapable  of  bearing  any 
superior  structure.  But  allowing  others||  the  entrance  into  the 
edifice,  he  directs  them  to  stand  at  the  doors,  and  to  conduct 
those  that  are  entering,  who  not  improperly  are  compared  to 

*  Alluding  to  the  measures  pursued  by  Maximinus  and  his  governors. 

•j-  Paulinus,  the  bishop. 

t  An  allusion  to  1  Gor.  iii.  12.,  in  which  our  author  plainly  understands  by  the 
gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  &c.,  the  different  members,  as  the  materials  that  con- 
stituted the  moral  and  spiritual  structure. 

§  Eusebius  now  gives  an  allegorical  description  of  the  spiritual  temple  at  Tyre, 
in  which  he  also  gives  the  different  grades  of  religious  attainment. 

II  By  these  are  meant  the  sub-deacons,  whose  office  was  to  conduct  all  that  en- 
tered to  their  proper  places,  the  catechumens,  penitents,  into  the  narthex  or  hall, 
the  faithful,  &c.  into  the  nave. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  423 

• 

the  vestibules  of  the  temple.  Others,  however,  he  has  supported 
by  the  first  pillars  which  are  placed  without,  around  the  qua- 
drangular hall,  by  initiating  them  in  the  first  elements  of  the  lite- 
ral sense  of  the  four  gospels.  Then  he  also  stations  around,  on 
both  sides  the  royal  temple,  those  who  are  yet  catechumens,* 
and  that  are  yet  making  progress,  and  improvement,  though  not 
very  far  separated  from  the  inmost  view  of  divine  things,  enjoyed 
by  the  faithful.  Receiving  from  among  these,  the  souls  that  are 
cleansed  like  gold,  by  the  divine  washing,  he  likewise  supports 
and  strengthens  these,  with  columns  far  better  than  those  exter- 
nal ones,  viz.,  by  the  inner  mysteries  and  hidden  doctrines  of  the 
Scriptures.  He  also  illuminates  them  by  the  openings,  to  admit 
the  light,  adorning  the  whole  temple  with  one  grand  vestibule 
of  adoration  to  the  one  only  God,  the  universal  Sovereign.  Ex- 
hibiting, however,  as  the  second  splendour,  the  liglit  of  Christ,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  on  each  side  of  the  Father's  authority ,f  and  dis- 
playing in  the  rest,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  building,  the 
abundance  and  the  exceeding  great  excellence  of  the  clearness 
and  the  brilliancy  of  truth  in  every  part.  Having  also  selected 
every  where,  and  from  every  quarter,  the  living  and  moving,  and 
well  |)repared  stones  of  the  mind,  he  has  built  a  grand  and  truly 
royal  edifice  of  all,  splendid  and  filled  with  light  within  and  with- 

*  Eusebius  here  gives  the  different  classes,  into  which  the  people  were  divided 
previous  to  a  full  admission.  The  first,  the  indiscriminate  multitude,  compared  to 
the  outer  wall ;  the  second,  the  catechumens,  or  those  who  by  a  course  of  instruc- 
tion were  preparing;  and  finally,  those  that  were  called  the  competentes,  or  the  can- 
didates for  baptism. 

■j-  That  the  learned  reader  may  have  a  comment  on  these  words,  we  here  trans- 
cribe the  words  of  a  scholiast,  found  in  the  Mazarine  manuscript,  used  by  Valesius, 
and  appended  to  the  passage:  xt,if„^t,  n  o-oi  tu.v  i^^^i'uv  to^t^v  xk.  n^xv>iyup.xu,v  xo>-*» 

0?1E\I>{  ;  >|  Tl  Xifi'Of  0-01  TOU  JTKVTO;  TOuJl  C 'KlTTUvtlftxTrSi  XXI  iTUVTxy  fiXTOf  ^  (KJ'X,  c^otiuovwj 
'of!u  Tov  u<ov  Tiu  n-»Tp<,  OUTS  /i>iv  TO   ^viv/ix    TO   xynv    (Tuvl igxyovT I .       Those    that     wish    to 

read  the  passage  will  find  it  quoted  at  length  by  Valesius,  in  loc.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  only  passage  where  the  scholiasts  have  given  utterance  to  what  they  no 
doubt  conceived  to  be  a  just  indignation.  Sic  non  veriti  sunt  Eusebium  nostrum, 
impium,  blasj)hemnm,  atheiim,  scholiis  suis  nominare  omniaque  epitheta,  qu?e  ipse  in 
tyrannos  conjicere  solcbat,  scholiastae  iterum  in  ipsuni  quasi  hostem  religiones  con- 
jecerunt.  Sed  pace  illorum  qui  aliter  sen tiunt,  h£B  locutiones  Eusebiaria;  proculdu- 
bio,  secundum  quid  vel  xxtx  n,  ut  diciturinscholis,  intelligendce  sunt.     Quis  nescit 

3S*= 


424  ^U$  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY, 

out.  For  it  is  resplendent  not  only  in  soul  and  mind,  but  the  body 
also  is  brilliant  with  the  blooming  ornaments  of  chastity  and 
modesty.  But  in  this  temple  there  are  also  thrones,  many  seats 
also,  and  benches,  in  all  the  souls  in  which  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  reside,  such  as  anciently  were  seen  in  the  holy  apostles 
and  their  followers,  to  whom  cloven  tongues,  as  of  fire,  appeared, 
and  sat  upon  each  one  of  them.  But  in  the  chief  of  all,  Christ 
himself  perhaps  resides  in  his  fulness.  In  those  that, rank  next 
to  him,  each  one  shares  proportionately  in  the  distribution  of  the 
power  of  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  may  also  be  seats 
for  angels  in  the  souls  of  some  who  are  committed  to  the  instruc- 
tion and  care  of  each.  Noble  and  grand  also,  and  unique  is 
the  altar,  such  as  should  be  at  least,  that  sincerity  and  Holy  of 
Holies,  of  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  priest  of  the  whole  congre- 
gation. That  great  High  Priest  of  the  universe,  Jesus,  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God,  himself  standing  at  his  right,  receives  the 
sweet  incense  from  all,  and  the  bloodless  and  immaterial  sacri- 
fices of  prayer,  with  a  bright  and  benign  eye  ;  and  with  extended 
hands,  bears  them  to  the  Father  of  heaven  and  God  over  all.  He 
himself,  first  adoring  him,  and  the  only  one  that  gives  to  the  Father 
the  worship  that  is  his  due,  and  then  interceding  with  Him  for  us, 
that  he  may  always  continue  propitious  and  favourable  to  us  all. 
"  Such  is  the  character  of  this  great  temple,  which  the  great 
creative  Word  hath  established,  throughout  the  whole  world, 
constituting  this  again  a  kind  of  intellectual  image  on  earth  of 
those  things  beyond  the  vault  of  heaven.  So  that  in  all  his  crea- 
tion, and  through  all  his  intelligent  creatures  on  earth,  the  Father 
should  be  honoured  and  adored.*     But  those  regionsf  beyond  the 

Dominum  et  Servatorem  nostram  '■^'■rx  t.  seipsum,  Patre  mhiorem,  et  ^»-.t»  t:,  ite- 
rum  seipsu?n  et  Patrem  unmn  dicit.  Et  si  locutiones  hujuscemodi,  blasphemiam 
vel  heterodoxiam  sapiunt,  quis  sapit  recte  1 

*  The  Greek  reads  thus:  o  u-^ry^f  «ui-co  {Koy..)  nu-.ro  re  ^=^.  <r£/3o.To.  Valesius  vertit 
"Pater  ipsius"  quasi  «vt«,  pro  c-^tou  sed  potius  videtur  indicare agentem.  Versionc 
nostra  hie  non  redditur  quia  lector  communis  titubet  nee  versione  Valesii  assentiie 
possumus.  Qui  nexum  sententiarum  penitus  inspexerit  facile  videbit  Eusebium, 
hie  filium  Dei  quasi  curatorem  adorationis  Patris  innuere. 

f  Our  orator,  now  drawing  to  a  close,  winds  up  his  survey  of  the  temple  on 
earth,  by  an  apostrophe  to  the  transcendant  glorv  of  the  church  triumphant. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  425 

heavens,  are  also  displays  of  what  are  here,  and  that  Jerusalem 
above,  and  that  heavenly  Sion,  and  that  city  of  the  living  God 
beyond  our  earth,  in  which  arc  the  innumerable  choirs  of  angels 
and  the  assembly  of  the  first  born  written  in  heaven,  extol  their 
Maker  and  the  universal  Sovereign  of  all,  with  praises  and  hymns 
inexpressible.  These  surpass  our  comprehension,  neither  would 
any  mortal  tongue  be  adequcfte  to  declare  that  glory.  '  For  eye 
hath  not  seen,  and  ear  hath  not  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  those  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  those  that  love  him.'  Of  which  things  as  we  are 
already  made  partakers  in  part,  let  us  never  cease,  men,  women 
and  children,  small  and  great,  all  collectively  at  once,  and  with 
one  breath,  and  one  mind,  to  proclaim  and  to  celebrate  the  author 
of  such  great  mercies  to  us.  '  Who  forgiveth  all  our  sins,  and 
healeth  all  our  infirmities,  who  redeemeth  our  fife  from  destruc- 
tion, and  crowneth  us  with  lovingkindness,  who  filleth  our  soul 
with  good  things.  For  he  hath  not  dealt  wdth  us  according  to 
our  sins  nor  rewarded  us  according  to  our  iniquities.  For  as  far 
as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed  our  iniquities 
from  us.  As  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him.'  Rekindling  such  views  now,  and  for  all  fu- 
ture times,  in  our  minds,  and  beside  the  present  festivity,  and  this 
illustrious  and  most  glorious  day,  contemplating  God  as  its  author, 
and  the  universal  author  of  all  festivity,  night  and  day,  in  every 
hour  and  with  every  breath  that  we  draw,  let  us  love  and  adore 
Him  with  all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  And  now  rising,  with  the 
most  earnest  expression  of  our  love  and  devotion,  let  us  beseech 
Him,  that  he  would  continue  to  shelter  and  save  us  as  those  of  his 
flock  until  the  end,  and  grant  us  his  peace  for  ever,  inviolate  and 
immoveable,  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  through  whom  the  glory 
be  to  Him  through  all  ages.     Amen." 


3H 


426       m  ECCI^SIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   V. 

Copies  of  the  imperial  decrees. 

Now  let  us  also,  subjoin  translations  from  the  Latin,  of  the 
imperial  ordinances  of  Constantine  and  Licinius. 

Copy  of  the  imperial  ordinances,  translated  from  the  Latin 
language. 

"  As  we  long  since  perceived  that  religious  liberty  should  not 
be  denied,  but  that  it  should  be  granted  to  the  opinion  and  wishes 
of  each  one  to  perform  divine  duties  according  to  his  own  deter- 
mination, we  had  given  orders,  that  each  one,  and  the  Christians 
among  the  rest,  have  the  liberty  to  observe  the  religion  of  his 
choice,  and  his  peculiar  mode  of  worship.  But  as  there  plainly 
appeared  to  be  many  and  different  sects  added  in  that  edict,*  in 
which  this  privilege  was  granted  them,  some  of  them  perhaps, 
after  a  little  while,  on  this  account  shrunk  from  this  kind  of  at- 
tention and  observance.  Wherefore,  as  I,  Constantine  Augustus, 
and  I,  Licinius  Augustus,  came  under  favourable  auspices  to 
Milan,  and  took  under  consideration  all  affairs  that  pertained 
to  the  public  benefit  and  welfare,  these  things  among  the  rest 
appeared  to  us  to  be  most  advantageous  and  profitable  to  all. 
We  have  resolved  among  the  first  things  to  ordain,  those  matters 
by  which  reverence  and  worship  to  the  Deity  might  be  exhibited. 
That  is  how  we  may  grant  likewise  to  the  Christians,  and  to  ail, 
the  free  choice  to  follow  that  mode  of  worship  w^hich  they  may 
wish.  That  whatsoever  divinity  and  celestial  power  may  exist, 
may  be  propitious  to  us  and  to  all  that  live  under  our  government. 

*  The  edict  here  mentioned  is  lost,  and  the  reference  is,  therefore,  subject  to 
some  obscurity.  The  Latin  original,  however,  of  this  one  is  preserved  by  Lanc- 
tantius,  in  his  book  "  De  Mortibus  Persecutorum,"  beginning  at  the  words, 
*'  Wherefore,  as  I,  Constantine."  Valesius  here,  as  well  as  in  the  other  edict«, 
has  no  reference  to  Lanctantius.  The  Greek  translation  is  in  the  main  so  faithful 
as  to  transfer  the  Latinity ;  the  text,  however,  still  preserved  in  Lanctantius,  dif- 
fers in  some  places  from  that  which  Eusebius  appears  to  have  had. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  *^-       427 

Therefore,  we  have  decreed  the  following  ordinance,  as  our 
will,  with  a  salutary  and  most  correct  intention,  that  no  freedom 
at  all  shall  he  refused  to  Christians,  to  follow  or  to  keep  their  ob 
servances  or  worship.  But  that  to  each  one  power  be  granted 
to  devote  his  mind  to  that  worship  which  he  may  think  adapted 
to  himself.  That  the  Deity  may  in  all  things  exhibit  to  us  his 
accustomed  favour  and  kindness.  It  was  just  and  consistent  that 
we  should  write  that  this  was  our  pleasure.  That  all  exceptions 
respecting  the  Christians  being  completely  removed,  which  were 
contained  in  the  former  epistle,  that  we  sent  to  your  fidelity,  and 
whatever  measures  were  wholly  sinister  and  foreign  to  our  mild- 
ness, that  these  should  be  altogether  annulled ;  and  now  that  each 
one  of  the  Christians  may  freely  and  without  molestation,  pur- 
sue and  follow  that  course  and  worship  which  he  has  proposed 
to  himself:  which,  indeed,  we  have  resolved  to  communicate 
most  fully  to  your  care  and  diligence,  that  you  may  know  we 
have  granted  liberty  and  full  freedom  to  the  Christians,  to  ob- 
serve their  own  mode  of  worship ;  which  as  your  fidelity  under- 
stands absolutely  granted  to  them  by  us,  the  privilege  is  also 
granted  to  others  to  pursue  that  worship  and  religion  they  wish. 
Which  it  is  obvious  is  consistent  with  the  peace  and  tranquillity 
of  our  times ;  that  each  may  have  the  privilege  to  select  and 
to  worship  whatsoever  divinity  he  pleases.  But  this  has  been 
done  by  us,  that  we  might  not  appear  in  any  manner  to  detract 
any  thing  from  any  manner  of  religion,  or  any  mode  of  worship. 
And  this,  we  further  decree,  with  respect  to  the  Christians,  that 
the  places  in  which  they  were  formerly  accustomed  to  assemble, 
concerning  which  also  we  formerly  wrote  to  your  fidelity,  in  a 
different  form,  that  if  any  persons  have  purchased  these,  either 
from  our  treasury,  or  from  any  other  one,  these  shall  restore 
them  to  the  Christians,  without  money  and  without  demanding 
any  price,  without  any  superadded  value,  or  augmentation,  with- 
out delay,  or  hesitancy.  And  if  any  have  happened  to  receive 
these  places  as  presents,  that  they  shall  restore  them  as  soon  as 
possible  to  the  Christians,  so  that  if  either  those  that  purchased  or 
those  that  received  them  as  presents,  have  any  thing  to  request 
of  our  munificence,  they  may  go  to  the  provincial  governor,  as 


428  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

the  judge ;  that  provision  may  also  be  made  for  them  by  our 
clemency.  All  which,  it  will  be  necessary  to  be  delivered  up 
to  the  body  of  Christians,  by  your  care,  without  any  delay.  And 
since  the  Christians  themselves  are  known  to  have  had  not  only 
those  places  where  they  were  accustomed  to  meet,  but  other 
places  also,  belonging  not  to  individuals  among  them,  but  to  the 
right  of  the  wdiole  body  of  Christians,  you  will  also  command  all 
these,  by  virtue  of  the  law  before  mentioned,  without  any  hesi- 
tancy, to  be  restored  to  these  same  Christians,  that  is  to  their 
body,  and  to  each  conventicle  respectively.  The  aforesaid  con- 
sideration, to  wit,  being  observed ;  namely,  that  they  who  as  we 
have  said  restore  them  wdthout  valuation  and  price,  may  expect 
their  indemnity  from  our  munificence  and  liberality.  In  all  which 
it  will  be  incumbent  on  you,  to  exhibit  your  exertions  as  much 
as  possible,  to  the  aforesaid  body  of  Christians,  that  our  orders 
may  be  most  speedily  accomplished,  that  likewise  in  this,  provi- 
sion may  be  made  by  our  clemency,  for  the  preservation  of  the 
common  and  public  tranquillity.  For  by  these  means,  as  before 
said,  the  divine  favour  with  regard  to  us,  which  w^e  have  already 
experienced  in  many  affairs,  will  continue  firm  and  permanent 
at  all  times.  But  that  the  purpose  of  this  our  ordinance  and 
hberality  may  be  extended  to  the  knowledge  of  all,  it  is  expected 
that  these  things  written  by  us,  should  be  proposed  and  published 
to  the  knowledge  of  all.  That  this  act  of  our  liberality  and  kind- 
ness may  remain  unknown  to  none."    . 

Copy  of  another  Ordinance  ichich  was  issued  by  the  Emperm^s,  in- 
dicating that  the  benefit  was  conferred  solely  on  the  catholic 
(universal)  church. 

"  Hail,  our  most  esteemed  Anulinus.  This  is  the  course  of  our 
benevolence;  that  we  wish  those  things  that  belong  justly  to 
others,  should  not  only  remain  unmolested,  but  should  also  when 
necessary  be  restored,  most  esteemed  Anulinus.  Whence  it  is 
our  will,  that  when  thou  shalt  receive  this  epistle,  if  any  of  those 
things  belonging  to  the  catholic  church  of  the  Christians  in  the 
several  cities  or  other  places,  are  now  possessed  either  by  the 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  429 

decurions,  or  any  others,  these  thou  shalt  cause  immediately  to 
be  restored  to  their  churches.  Since  we  have  previously  deter- 
mined, that  whatsoever  these  same  churches  before  possessed, 
shall  be  restored  to  their  right.  When,  therefore,  your  fidelity 
has  understood  this  decree  of  our  orders  to  be  most  evident  and 
plain,  make  all  haste  to  restore,  as  soon  as  possible,  all  that  be- 
longs to  the  churches,  whether  gardens  or  houses,  or  any  thing 
else,  that  we  may  learn  thou  hast  attended  to,  and  most  carefully 
observed  this  our  decree.  Farewell,  most  esteemed  and  beloved 
Anulinus." 

Copy  of  the  Emperor's  Epistle,  in  ichich  he  ordains  a  council  of 
bishops  to  be  held  at  Rome,  for  the  unity  and  peace  of  the 
church. 

"  CoivrsTANTiNE  AUGUSTUS,  to  Miltiadcs  bishop  of  Rome,  and  to 
Marcus.  As  many  communications  of  this  kind  have  been  sent 
to  me  from  Anulinus,  the  most  illustrious  proconsul  of  Africa,  in 
which  it  is  contained  that  Cascilianus,  the  bishop  of  Carthage, 
was  accused,  in  many  respects,  by  his  colleagues  in  Africa ;  and 
as  this  appears  to  be  grievous,  that  in  those  provinces  which 
divine  Providence  has  freely  entrusted  to  my  fidelity,  and  in 
which  there  is  a  vast  population,  the  multitude  are  found  inclining 
to  deteriorate,  and  in  a  manner  divided  into  two  parties,  and 
among  others,  that  the  bishops  were  at  variance;  I  have  re- 
solved that  the  same  Cascilianus,  together  with  ten  bishops,  who 
appear  to  accuse  him,  and  ten  others,  whom  he  himself  may 
consider  necessary  for  his  cause,  shail  sail  to  Rome.  That  you, 
being  present  there,  as  also  Reticius,  Maternus,  and  Marinus, 
your  colleagues,  whom  I  have  commanded  to  hasten  to  Rome 
for  this  purpose,  may  be  heard,  as  you  may  understand  most  con- 
sistent with  the  most  sacred  law.  And,  indeed,  that  you  may 
have  the  most  perfect  knowledge  of  these  matters,  I  have  sub- 
joined to  my  own  epistle  copies  of  the  writings  sent  to  me  by 
Anulinus,  and  sent  them  to  your  aforesaid  colleagues.  In  which 
your  gravity  will  read  and  consider  in  what  way  the  aforesaid 
cause  may  be  most  accurately  investigated  and  justly  decided 


430  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

Since  it  neither  escapes  your  diligence,  that  I  show  such  regard 
for  the  holy  catholic  church,  that  I  wish  you,  upon  the  w^hole, 
to  leave  no  room  for  schism  or  division.  May  the  power  of  the 
great  God  preserve  you  many  years,  most  esteemed." 

Copy  of  the  Epistle  in  ichich  the  Emperor  commanded  another 
council  to  he  }ieId,for  the  purpose  of  removing  all  the  dissension 
of  the  bishops. 

"  CoNSTANTiNE  AuGusTus  to  Chrcstus  bishop  of  Syracuse.  As 
there  were  some  already  before  who  perversely  and  wickedly 
began  to  waver  in  the  holy  rehgion  and  celestial  virtue,  and  to 
abandon  the  doctrine  of  the  catholic  (universal)  church,  desirous, 
therefore,  of  preventing  such  disputes  among  them,  I  had  thus 
written,  that  this  subject,  which  appeai-ed  to  be  agitated  among 
them,  might  be  rectified,  by  delegating  certain  bishops  from  Gaul, 
and  summoning  others  of  the  opposite  parties  from  Africa,  who 
are  pertinaciously  and  incessantly  contending  with  one  another, 
that  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  matter  in  their  presence,  it 
might  thus  be  decided.  But  since,  as  it  happens,  some,  forgetful 
of  their  own  salvation,  and  the  reverence  due  to  our  most  holy 
religion,  even  now  do  not  cease  to  protract  their  own  enmity, 
being  unwilling  to  conform  to  the  decision  already  promulgated, 
and  asserting  that  they  were  very  few  that  advanced  their  senti- 
ments and  opinions,  or  else  that  all  points  which  ought  to  have 
been  first  fully  discussed  not  being  first  examined,  they  proceeded 
with  too  much  haste  and  precipitancy  to  give  publicity  to  the  de- 
cision. Hence  it  has  happened,  that  those  very  persons  who 
ought  to  exhibit  a  brotherly  and  peaceful  unanimity,  rather  dis- 
gracefully and  detestably  are  at  variance  with  one  another,  and 
thus  give  this  occasion  of  derision  to  those  that  are  without,  and 
whose  minds  are  averse  to  our  most  holy  religion.  Hence  it  has 
appeared  necessary  to  me  to  provide  that  this  matter,  which 
ought  to  have  ceased  after  the  decision  was  issued  by  their  own 
voluntary  agreement,  now,  at  length,  should  be  fully  terminated 
by  the  intervention  of  many. 

"  Since,  therefore,  we  have  commanded  many  bishops  to  meet 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY,  431 

together  from  different  and  remote  places,  in  the  city  of  Aries, 
towards  the  calends  of  August,  I  have  also  thought  proper  to 
write  to  thee,  that  taking  a  public  vehicle  from  the  most  illus- 
trious Latronianus,  corrector  of  Sicily,  and  taking  with  thee  two 
others  of  the  second  rank,  which  thou  mayest  select,  also  three 
servants  to  afford  you  services  on  the  way ;  I  would  have  you 
meet  them  within  the  same  day  at  the  aforesaid  place.  That 
by  the  weight  of  your  authority,  and  the  prudence  and  unanimity 
of  the  rest  that  assemble,  this  dispute,  which  has  disgracefully 
continued  until  the  present  time,  in  consequence  of  certain  dis- 
graceful contentions,  may  be  discussed,  by  hearing  all  that  shaF 
be  alleged  by  those  who  are  now  at  variance,  whom  we  have  also 
commanded  to  be  present,  and  thus  the  controversy  be  reduced, 
though  slowly,  to  that  faith,  and  observance  of  religion,  and  fra- 
ternal concord,  which  ought  to  prevail.  May  Almighty  God 
preserve  thee  in  safety  many  years." 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Of  the  property  belonging  to  the  Christians. 


Copy  of  an  Epistle  in  which  the  ^Emperor  grants  money  to  the 
churches. 

"  CoNSTANTiNE  AuGusTus  to  Csecilianus  bishop  of  Carthage. 
As  we  have  determined,  that  in  all  the  provinces  of  Africa,  Nu- 
midia,  and  Mauritania,  something  should  be  granted  to  certain 
ministers  of  the  legitimate  and  most  holy  catholic  (universal)  re- 
ligion, to  defray  their  expenses,  I  have  given  letters  to  Ursus,  the 
most  illustrious  lieutenant-governor  of  Africa,  and  have  commu- 
nicated to  him,  that  he  shall  provide,  to  pay  to  your  authority, 
three  thousand  folles.* 

•  If  the  follis  be  estimated  at  208  denarii,  according  to  the  usual  compulation, 
tlus  sum  would  amount  to  about  10,000  dollars. 

39 


432  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

'•■  After  you  shall  have  obtained  this  sum,  you  are  to  order 
these  monies  to  be  distributed  among  the  aforesaid  ministers,  ac- 
cording to  the  abstract  addressed  to  thee  from  Hosius.  But  if 
thou  shalt  learn,  perhaps,  that  any  thing  shall  be  wanting  to  com- 
plete this  my  purpose  with  regard  to  all,  thou  art  authorized, 
without  delay,  to  make  demands  for  whatever  thou  mayest  as- 
certain to  be  necessary,  from  Heraclides,  the  procurator  of  our 
possessions.  And  I  have  also  commanded  him  when  present, 
that  if  thy  authority  should  demand  any  monies  of  him,  he  should 
see  that  it  should  be  paid  without  delay.  And  as  I  ascertained 
that  some  men,  who  are  of  no  settled  mind,  wish  to  divert  the 
people  from  the  most  holy  cathoKc  (universal)  church,  by  a  cer- 
tain pernicious  adulteration,  I  wish  thee  to  understand  that  I  have 
given,  both  to  the  proconsul  Anulinus  and  to  Patricius,  vicar- 
general  of  the  praefects,  when  present,  the  following  injunctions; 
that,  among  all  the  rest,  they  should  particularly  pay  the  neces- 
sary attention  to  this,  nor  should  by  any  means  tolerate  that  this 
should  be  overlooked.  Wherefore,  if  thou  seest  any  of  these 
men  persevering  in  this  madness,  thou  shalt,  without  any  hesi- 
tancy, proceed  to  the  aforesaid  judges,  and  report  it  to  them,  that 
they  may  animadvert  upon  them,  as  I  commanded  them,  when 
present.  May  the  power  of  the  great  God  preserve  thee  many 
years." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  'privileges  and  immunities  of  the  clergy. 

Copy  of  an  Epistle  in  which  the  Emperor  commands  that  the  p-e- 
lates  of  the  churches  should  be  exempt  from  performing  service 
in  political  matters. 

"  Health  to  thee,  most  esteemed  Anulinus.  As  it  appears 
from  many  circumstances,  that  when  the  religion  was  despised, 
in  which  the  highest  reverence  of  the  heavenly  majesty  is  ob- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  433 

served,  that  our  public  affairs  were  beset  with  great  dangers,  and 
that  this  religion,  when  legally  adopted  and  observed,  afforded 
the  greatest  prosperity  to  the  Roman  name,  and  distinguished 
felicity  to  all  men,  as  it  has  been  granted  by  the  divine  benefi- 
cence, we  have  resolved  that  those  men  who  gave  their  services 
with  becoming  sanctity,  and  the  observance  of  this  law,  to  the 
performiance  of  divine  worship,  should  receive  the  recompence 
for  their  labours,  oh  most  esteemed  Anulinus  ;  wherefore  it  is  my 
will  that  these  men,  within  the  province,  entrusted  to  thee  in  the 
Catholic  church,  over  which  Cascilianus  presides,  who  give  their 
services  to  this  holy  religion,  and  whom  they  commonly  call 
clergy,  shall  be  held  totally  free,  and  exempt  from  all  public 
offices,  to  the  end  that  they  may  not  by  any  error  or  sacrilegious 
deviation,  be  drawn  away  from  the  service  due  to  the  Divinity, 
but  rather  may  devote  themselves  to  their  proper  law,  without 
any  molestation.  So,  that,  whilst  they  exhibit  the  greatest  pos- 
sible reverence  to  the  Deity,  it  appears  the  greatest  good  will  be 
conferred  on  the  state.  Farewell,  most  esteemed  and  beloved 
Anulinus." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  wickedness  ichich  Licinius  afterwards  exhibited,  and  his 
death. 

Such  then,  was  the  divine  and  celestial  grace,  exhibited  by  the 
interposition  of  our  Saviour.  And  such  too  the  abundant  bless- 
ings imparted  to  us  by  the  peace,  and  in  this  manner  our  affairs 
were  finally  crowned  with  gladness  and  festivity.  But  malig- 
nant envy,  and  the  daemon  of  iniquity  was  not  able  to  endure  the 
exhibition  of  this  spectacle. 

When  therefore,  the  events  that  befel  the  aforesaid  tyrants  were 
not  sufficient  to  bring  Licinius  to  sound  reason,  who  as  long  as 
his  government  was  prosperous,  being  honoured  with  the  second 
rank  after  the  emperor,  Constantino  the  great,  and  also  by  inter- 
marriage and  affinity  of  the  highest  order,  he  nevertheless 
31 


434  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

abandoned  imitating  a  good  example,  and  on  the  contrary  rivalled 
the  wickedness  of  the  impious  tyrants.  And  thus,  although  he  had 
seen  their  end  M'ith  his  own  eyes,  he  was  resolved  to  follow  their 
counsels  rather  than  remain  faithful  to  a  better  disposition  and 
friendship.  Stimulated,  therefore,  by  envy,  he  waged  a  most  op- 
pressive and  nefarious  war  against  the  common  benefactor  of  all, 
not  regarding  the  laws  of  nature,  nor  leagues,  nor  consanguinity, 
nor  paying  any  regard  to  covenants.  For  Constantine,  as  a  most 
gracious  emperor,  exhibiting  the  evidences  of  a  true  benevolence, 
had  not  refused  affinity  with  him,  and  had  not  denied  him  the 
illustrious  marriage  with  his  sister,  and  had  honoured  him  as 
a  sharer  in  that  eminent  nobility  of  the  imperial  family,  wliich 
he  derived  from  his  fathers,  and  had  shared  with  him  the  govern- 
ment of  the  whole  empire,  as  his  kinsman  and  partner,  grant- 
ing him  the  power  to  rule  and  govern  no  less  a  part  of  the  em- 
pire than  himself.  But  he,  on  the  contrary,  pursued  a  course 
directly  opposite  to  this,  by  plotting  every  kind  of  mischief  against 
his  superior,  and  inventing  all  manner  of  artifices,  as  if  to  return 
the  kindness  of  his  benefactor  with  evils.  And  first,  he  indeed, 
attempted  to  conceal  his  preparations,  and  pretended  to  be  his 
friend,  and  having  frequently  waylaid  him  with  treachery  and 
deceit,  hoped  that  he  would  very  easily  gain  his  object.  But 
God  was  the  friend  and  the  vigilant  protector  and  guardian  of 
the  emperor  (Constantine)  who  bringing  these  plots  formed  in 
darkness  and  secrecy  to  light,  foiled  them.  So  much  excellence 
has  that  powerful  armour  of  piety,  to  repel  our  enemies,  and  for 
the  preservation  of  our  own  safety.  But  our  most  idivinely  fa- 
voured emperor  fortified  by  this,  escaped  the  multifarious  and 
complicated  plots  of  the  iniquitous  man.  But  tlie  other,  when  he 
saw  that  his  secret  preparations  by  no  means  succeeded  accord- 
ing to  his  wish,  as  God  detected  every  artifice  and  villany  to 
his  favoured  prince,  no  longer  able  to  conceal  himself,  he  com- 
menced an  open  war.  And  in  thus  determining  war  against  Con- 
stantine, he  now  also  proceeded  to  array  himself  against  that 
supreme  God,  whom  he  knew  him  to  worship.  Afterwards  he 
began  gradually  and  imperceptibly  to  assail  those  pious  subjects 
under  him,  who  had  never  at  any  time  troubled  his  government 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  435 

This  too,  he  did,  violently  urged  on  by  the  innate  propensity  ol 
his  malice,  that  overclouded  and  darkened  his  understanding.  He 
did  not,  therefore,  bear  in  mind  those  that  had  persecuted  the 
Christians  before  him,  nor  those  whose  destroyer  and  punisher 
he  himself  had  been  appointed,  for  their  wickedness.  But  depart- 
ing from  sound  reason,  and  as  one  might  say,  seized  with  insanity, 
he  had  determined  to  wage  war  against  God  himself,  the  protector 
and  aid  of  Constantino,  in  place  of  the  one  whom  he  assisted. 
And  first,  indeed,  he  drove  away  all  the  Christians  from  his 
house,  the  wretch  thus  divesting  himself  of  those  prayers  to  God 
for  his  safety,  which  they  are  taught  to  offer  up  for  all  men. 
After  this  he  ordered  the  soldiers  in  the  cities  to  be  cashiered  and 
to  be  stripped  of  military  honours,  unless  they  chose  to  sacrifice 
to  daemons. 

But  these  were  "Small  mattei's  compared  with  the  subsequent 
greater  ones  that  were  superadded.  Why  should  we  here  relate 
particularly  and  minutely  the  deeds  perpetrated  by  this  enemy  of 
God  ?*'  how,  as  a  violator  of  all  law,  he  also  devised  illegal  laws.f 
For  he  enacted  that  no  one  should  exercise  humanity  towards 
the  unhappy  individuals  in  prison,  by  imparting  food,  and  no  one 
compassionate  those  perishing  with  hunger,  in  bonds,  so  that 
there  should  be  no  good  man  tolerated,  or  any  good  thing  done, 
and  that  too,  even  when  nature  herself  powerfully  attracts  our 
sympathy  towards  our  fellow-men.  Indeed,  this  was  a  most  shame- 
less and  inhuman  law,  calculated  to  expel  every  sense  of  hu- 
manity implanted  by  nature.  Beside  this,  the  punishment  was 
attached  to  those  who  exercised  commiseration,  that  they  should 
be  made  to  suffer  the  same  things  with  those  they  commiserated  ; 
and  that  those  who  had  performed  the  offices  of  humanity  should 
be  thrust  into  prisons  and  bonds,  to  sustain  the  same  punishment 
with  the  worst  malefactors.  Such  were  the  ordinances  of  Lici- 
nius.     Why  should  we,  moreover,  recount  his  innovations  in  mar- 

•  This  is  the  proper  meaning  of  ^-'c.u'o-si  here.  Valesius  invariably  translates  in- 
visus  Deo.     This  cannot  be  supported.     See  note  in  the  Panegyric,  on  this  word. 

■|-  This  translation  may  give  some  idea  of  the  play  upon  the  word  v/^of,  in  the 
original.  Our  author  is  fond  of  the  figure  paronomasia,  as  we  have  seen  in  more 
than  one  instance. 

39* 


436  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

riage,  or  his  novelties  in  regard  to  the  dying  1  By  means  ol 
which  he  dared  to  restrict  the  ancient  and  wisely  established 
institutions  of  the  Romans,  and  to  introduce  as  a  substitute  cer- 
tain barbarous,  savage,  unlawful,  and  truly  lawless  laws.*  He 
also  invented  innumerable  pretexts  of  exaction  against  the  peo- 
ple subject  to  him,  and  every  variety  of  method  to  extort  silver 
and  gold,  new  measurements  of  lands,f  and  means  of  gain  by 
way  of  penalty,!  from  those  in  the  country,  who  were  no  longer 
living,  but  had  long  since  died.  Who  can  tell  the  expatriations 
that  this  enemy  of  mankind  devised  besides  these,  the  banishment 
of  nobles  and  illustrious  men,  those  too,  M'hom  he  separated  from 
their  youthful  wives,  consigning  the  latter  to  be  shamefully 
abused  by  certain  miscreants  of  his  own ;  with  how  many  fe- 
males, married  and  unmarried,  he,  though  in  the  last  stages  of 
advanced  age,  gratified  his  unbridled  passions.  Why,  I  say, 
should  I  delay  in  reciting  those  things,  when  the  excessive  wick- 
edness of  his  last  deeds  make  the  first  to  appear  as  trifles,  and  a 
mere  nothing  1  He  at  last  proceeded  to  such  an  extent  of  mad- 
ness, as  to  attack  the  bishops;  now  indeed,  regarding  them  as  the 
servants  of  the  Supreme  God,  hostile  to  his  measures ;  but  yet  not 
openly  for  fear  of  his  superior  (Constantine.)  But  commencing 
his  operations  in  a  clandestine  and  crafty  manner,  by  means  of  his 
governors  and  magistrates,  he  insidiously  destroyed  the  most  dis- 
tinguished and  approved  of  these.  And  the  manner  of  the  murder 
itself,  perpetrated  upon  them,  was  strange,  and  such  as  had  never 
before  been  heard  of  But  the  excesses  perpetrated  at  Amana, 
and  other  cities  of  Pontus,  surpassed  all  others  in  savage  cruelty. 
There  some  of  the  churches  of  God  were  razed  to  the  ground, 
some  were  closed,  so  that  no  one  accustomed  to  frequent  them 
could  get  into  them,  nor  render  God  the  worship  that  we  owe. 

*  The  paronomasia  we  have  here  attempted  to  transfer. 

f  These  new  surveys  of  land  afforded  new  pretexts  for  embezzlement,  &c. , 
they  were  always  attended  by  a  new  assessment. 

I  £^.i;>,.«ioy  x.=pJo;,  we  have  rendered  thus.  Valesius  says,  exiiiale  lucrum,  which 
is  too  general  to  reach  the  sense.  The  expression  seems  to  refer  to  the  unlawful 
levies  and  impositions  upon  estates  whose  proprietors  were  long  dead;  length  of 
time,  probably  aflbrding  the  better  pretext  to  involve  and  encumber  them. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  437 

For  he  did  not  suppose  that  prayers  were  offered  up  for  him  ; 
reasoning  thus  in  his  bad  conscience,  but  persuaded  himself  that 
we  did  all  and  propitiated  the  Deity  only  for  the  divinely  favoured 
emperor.  Hence  also  he  directed  the  violence  of  his  fury  against 
us,  and  at  the  same  time  when  his  parasitical  governors  per- 
ceived that  they  were  doing  what  was  gratifying  to  the  execrable 
tyrant,  they  subjected  some  of  the  bishops  to  the  same  punishments 
as  the  worst  criminal.  Those,  therefore,  who  had  done  no  evil, 
were  led  away  to  punishment  without  any  pretext,  just  like  mur- 
derers and  assassins.  Some  also  endured  a  novel  kind  of  death, 
having  their  bodies  cut  into  many  small  piecesr,  and  after  this 
savage  and  horrible  spectacle,  were  thrown  as  food  to  the  fishes 
into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  Again  then,  the  worshippers  of  God 
began  to  flee;  again  the  open  fields,  the  deserts,  forests,  and 
mountains,  received  the  servants  of  Christ.  When  these  things 
had  succeeded  with  the  impious  tyrant,  after  this  manner, 
he  finally  contemplated  to  renew  the  persecution  against  all. 
And  no  doubt  he  would  have  prevailed  in  his  determination,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  hinder  him  to  proceed  in  his  work,  had 
not  God,  the  defender  of  his  own  sei'vants,  anticipated  him,  and 
led  forth  Constantino,  his  servant,  with  a  mighty  arm  amid  these 
events,  and  suddenly,  as  in  the  dense  and  impenetrable  darkness 
of  a  gloomy  night,  caused  a  light  and  a  deliverer  to  arise  to  all. 


CHAPTEPw  IX. 


The  victory  of  Constantine,  and  the  blessings  ichich  under  him 
accrued  to  the  whole  Roman  world. 

To  him,  therefore,  the  supreme  God,  granted  from  heaven 
above,  the  fruits  of  his  piety,  the  trophies  of  victory  over  the  virick- 
ed,  and  that  nefarious  tyrant  with  all  his  counsellors  and  ad- 
herents, he  cast  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  Constantine.*    For  when 

*  Constantine  obtained  this  signal  victory  over  Licinius,  A.  D.  324,  the  limits 
of  our  author's  history.  The  first  war  that  broke  out  between  the  two  emperors, 
was  occasioned  by  the  protection  which  Licinius  had  extended  to  Sinicius,  who 


438  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

he  proceeded  to  the  extremes  of  madness,  in  his  movements,  the 
divinely  favoured  emperor  ragarded  Iiim  as  no  more  to  be  tole- 
rated, but  taking  his  prudent  measures  and  mingling  the  firm 
principles  of  justice  v^'ith  his  humanity,  he  determines  to  come 
to  the  protection  of  those  who  were  so  miserably  oppressed  by 
the  tyrant ;  and  in  this,  by  banishing  smaller  pests,  he  thus  ad- 
vanced to  save  vast  multitudes  of  the  human  race,  for  as  he 
had  exercised  only  his  humanity,  in  commiserating  him  the  time 
before  this,  a  man  who  was  by  no  means  deserving  of  compas- 
sion, it  proved  of  no  avail  to  him,  who  would  not  renounce  his 
iniquity,  but  rather  increased  his  madness  against  the  people  his 
subjects.  But  to  the  oppressed  there  was  no  hope  of  salvation 
left,  in  the  cruelties  they  endured  from  the  savage  beast.  Where- 
fore, also,  Constantine  the  protector  of  the  good,  combining  his 
hatred  of  wickedness  with  the  love  of  goodness,  went  forth  with  his 
son  Crispus,  the  most  benevolent  Cesar,  to  extend  a  saving  arm 
to  all  those  that  were  perishing.  Both,  therefore,  the  father  and 
son,  having  as  it  were  God  the  universal  King,  and  his  Son  our 
Saviour,  as  their  leader  and  aid,  drawing  up  the  army  on  all 
sides  against  the  enemies  of  God,  bore  away  an  easy  victory; 
all  things  being  prospered  to  them  by  God  in  the  conflict  accord- 
ing to  their  wishes.  Suddenly  then,  and  sooner  than  said,  those 
that  but  yesterday  breathed  threats  and  destruction,  w^ere  no 
more,  not  even  leaving  the  memory  of  their  name.  Their  paint- 
ings, (their  effigies)  their  honours  received  the  deserved  contempt 
and  disgrace,  and  those  very  scenes  which  Licinius  had  seen  oc- 
curring to  the  iniquitous  tyrants,  these  same  he  experiened  him- 
self. As  he  would  neither  receive  instruction,  nor  grow  wise  by 
the  chastisements  of  his  neighbours,  he  proceeded  in  the  same 
course  of  impiety,  and  was  justly  hurled  down  the  same  precipice 
with  them.  He,  therefore,  lay  prostrated  in  this  way.  But  the 
mighty  and  victorious  Constantine,  adorned  with  every  virtue 
of  religion,  with  his  most  pious  son,  Crispus  Cesar,  resembling  in 
all  things  his  father,  recovered  the  east  as  his  own,  and  thus  re- 
had  plotted  against  the  life  of  Constantine,  A.  D.  314,  and  ten  years  afterwards  he 
was  overthrown,  and  deprived  of  the  imperial  dignity,  having  his  life  spared,  only 
for  a  short  time  at  the  entreaties  of  his  wife,  Constantine's  sister. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY.  439 

stored  the  Roman  empire  to  its  ancient  state  of  one  united  body  ; 
extending  their  peaceful  sway  around  the  world,  from  the  rising 
sun,  to  the  opposite  regions,  to  the  north  and  the  south,  even  to  the 
last  borders  of  the  declining  day.  All  fear,  therefore,  of  those  who 
had  previously  afflicted  them,  M^as  now  wholly  removefd.  They 
celebrated  splendid  and  festive  days  with  joy  and  hilarity.  All 
things  were  filled  with  light,  and  all  who  before  were  sunk  in 
sorrow,  beheld  each  other  with  smiling  and  cheerful  faces.  With 
choirs  and  hymns,  in  the  cities  and  villages,  at  the  same  time 
they  celebrated  and  extolled  first  of  all  God  the  universal  King, 
because  they  thus  were  taught,  then  they  also  celebrated  the 
praises  of  the  pious  emperor,  and  with  him  all  his  divinely  fa- 
voured children.  There  was  a  perfect  oblivion  of  past  evils,  and 
past  wickedness  was  buried  in  forgetful ness.  There  was  nothing 
but  enjoyment  of  the  present  blessings^  and  expectation  of  those 
yet  to  come.  Edicts  were  published  and  issued  by  the  victorious 
emperor,  full  of  clemency,  and  laws  were  enacted  indicative  of 
munificence  and  genuine  i-eligion. 

Thus,  then,  after  all  the  tyranny  had  been  purged  away,  the 
empire  was  justly  reserved  firm  and  without  a  rival,  to  Constan- 
tine  and  his  sons.  Who  first  sweeping  away  that  enmity  to  God, 
exhibited  by  the  former  rulers,  sensible  of  the  mercies  conferred 
upon  them  by  God,  exhibited  also  their  own  love  of  religion  and 
God,  with  their  piety  and  gratitude  to  Him,  by  those  works  and 
operations  which  they  presented  to  the  view  of  all  the  world. 

With  the  divine  blessing,  the  end  of  the  Tenth  Book  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eusebius  Pamphilus. 


THE  ENDl 


INDEX 


¥ 


SUBJECTS  AND  AUTHORS,  ETC.,  OCCURRING  IN  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL 
HISTORY  OF  EUSEBIUS. 


The  number  refers  to  the  page. 


AsRAHA^t  and  the  pious  ancients  were 
in  reality  Christians,  26. 

Achior  the  Ammonite,  34. 

Acts  of  Pilate  forged,  384. 

Acts  or  records  respecting  the  martyrs 
Carpus,  Papylus,  and  Agathonice,  150. 

Adrian's  epistle  in  favour  of  the  Chris- 
tians, 137. 

Adrianus  and  Eubulus,  martyrs,  369. 

jEdesius,  a  martyr,  357. 

^lia,  Jerusalem,  62.  132. 

uElius  Publius,  bishop  of  Debeltum,  203. 

Africanus,  his  epistle  to  Aristides  on  the 
genealogy  of  Christ,  30.  32.  250. 

Agabus,  his  prediction,  53. 

Agapius,  a  martyr,  358. 

Agathobuli,  313. 

Agbarus,  or  Abgarus,  his  epistle,  43. 

Agreement  of  the  churches  on  the  pass- 
over,  211. 

Agrippa  appointed  king,  53. 

Alabarch  of  Alexandria,  55. 

Albinus,  procurator  of  Judea,  78. 

Alcibiades,  a  writer,  199. 

Alexander,  assistant  bishop  of  Jerusa- 
lem, 229. 

,  his  epistle  to  the  Antinoites, 

and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Antioch,  230. 

,  his  epistle  to  Origen,  234. 

. ,  his  epistle  to  Demetrius   of 

Alexandria,  240. 

Allegorical  exposition  of  Scripture,  68. 

Ambrose,  237. 

Ammia,  a  prophetess,  199. 

Ammianus  and  Quadratus,  prophets,  199. 

Ammonarium.  a  martyr,  260. 

Ammonius,  a  Christian  philosopher,  238, 
239. 

Anatolius,  312.  314. 

Anencletus  of  Rome,  100. 

Annals  and  public  records  of  Edessa,44. 

Annianus  of  Alexandria,  79. 

Antiiegomenoi,  books  so  called,  323. 


Antinous  deified,  135. 

Antipater,  father  of  Herod  the  Great, 

and  son  of  Herod  of  Ascalon,  30. 
Antonine's  epistle,  14. 
Apelles,  a  disciple  of  Tatian,  192. 
Apion  on  the  Hexaemeron,  212. 
Apocalypse,  whether  written  by  St.  John, 

297. 
Apocrj'pha,  mentioned  by  Hegesippus, 

158. 
Apollonius,  a  martyr,  205. 
Apollonius  refutes   the   Cataphrygians, 

200. 
Apollinaris,    bishop    of   Hierapolis,  his 

testimony  to  the  les^io  fnlminea,  184. 
Apology  of  Justin,  139. 
Apostles,  their  successors,  84  ;  those  that 

lived  in  marriage,  115. 
,    others   so    called   beside    the 

twelve,  43. 
Appianus,  353. 
Aquila,  his  version,  189.  236. 
Arabianus,  213. 
Arabian  dissension,  253. 
Archelaus,  Herod's  son,  31. 
Aristarchus,  Paul's  companion,  74. 
Aristides,  the  apologist,  130. 
Aristo  of  Pella,  132. 
Aristobulus,  313. 
Artemon,  213. 

Ascetics  mentioned  by  Philo,  66. 
Asclepiodotus,  Theodotus,  Hermophilus, 

and  Apollonius,  followers  of  Artemon, 

216. 
Asclepius  Marcionita,  367, 
Astyrius,  287. 
Attains,  his  version,  182. 
Avilius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  100. 
Author  unknown  against  the  Phrygians, 

195;  also  against  Artemon,  213. 
Authors  that  wrote  in  defence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  reign  of  Adrian,  129 
Auxentius,  martyr,  350. 

3  K  467 


468 


INDEX. 


B 


Babylas,  bishop  of  Antioch,  249. 

Babylon,  Rome  so  called  by  Peter,  65. 

Bacchylides  and  Elpistus,  159. 

Bacchylus,  bishop  of  Corinth,  206. 

Baptism  of  heretics,  276. 

Barcabbas  and  Barcoph,  fictitious  pro- 
phets of  Basilides,  133. 

Barchochebas  the  impostor,  131. 

Bardesanes  the  Syrian,  167. 

Barnabas,  one  of  the  seventy  disciples, 
42. 

Basilides,  133. 

Benjamin,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  130. 

Baryllus,  bishop  of  Bostra,  251. 

Bishops  of  Rome  under  Trajan,  128. 

,  of  Jerusalem  from  the  time  of 

our  Saviour  until  Adrian,  1 30. 

-,   of   Alexandria  under  Adrian, 


130. 


of  Rome  and  Alexandria  under 


Antonine,  137. 

under  Verus,  156 

of  Antioch,  156 

list  of,  185. 

under  Commodus,  190,  206. 

in  the  days  of  Origen,  243. 

under  Decius  and  Gallus,  271. 


Bitthera,  a  fortified  town  of  Judea,  131. 

Blastus  creates  a  schism  at  Rome,  194. 
C 

Caius,  an  ecclesiastic,  writes  respecting 
the  tombs  of  Peter  and  Paul,  80 ;  also 
on  Cerinthus,  113;  on  the  tombs  of 
Philip,  116. 

Caius  (Caligula,)  his  insolence  to  Philo, 
55. 

profanes  the  temple,  56. 

Caius  and  Alexander,  martyrs  of  Apa- 
mea,  199. 

Caesarea  Philippi,  called  Paneas  by  the 
Phenicians,  382. 

Candidus  on  the  Hexaemeron,  212. 

Canon  on  the  passover,  312. 

Caparathffia,  a  village,  112, 

Carpocrates,  the  heresiarch,  133, 

Cassianus,  bishop  of  Jerusalem  after 
Marcus,  192, 

Catechumens,  martyrs,  223. 

Cathari,  heretics,  263. 

Catholic,  sense  of  the  term,  83.  265, 

Celsus,  253. 

Cemeteries  or  dormitories,  Christian  bu- 
rial places,  so  called,  281, 

Census,  mentioned  by  Josephus,  28, 

Cerdon,  heresiarch,  138. 


Cerdon,    third  bishop    of    Alexandria, 

i04. 
Cerinthus,  nature  of  his  doctrine,  1 14, 

,  in  the  bath,  142. 

Cesti,  books  written  by  Africanus,  250. 
Chaeremon,  bishop  of  the  city  of  Nile, 

261. 
Christ's  manifestation,  28. 
name  applied  anciently  to  others, 

27. 
Christians  characterized,  26. 
,  so  called  first  at  Antioch,  53. 


Christianity,  its  rapid  spread,  52. 
Chrysophora,  160. 

Churches  rebuilt  and  dedicated,  405. 
Claudius,  famine  in  his  reign,  57. 
Clement  of  Rome,  his  testimony  on  the 

preference   given  by   the  apostle    to 

James,  49. 

on  the  gospel  of  Mark,  64,  65. 

his  epistle,  101.  124. 

on  the  martyrdom  of  James,  58 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  his  works,  191. 

232. 
,  books  of  Scripture  mentioned  by 

him,  233, 
,  narrative  respecting  the  apostle 

John,  105, 

■,  on  the  Nicolaites,  1 14. 

-,  on  the  apostles   that  lived  in 


matrimony,  115. 
Cleobians,  157. 

Cleophas,  brother  of  Joseph,  99. 
Confession  and  martyrdom,  230. 
Conflicts  and  trials  of  the  martyrs,  320. 
Constantine's  ordinances,  429. 

the  property  of  the  Chris- 


tians, 430. 

grant  of  privileges,  432. 

his  victory,  435. 

Cornelius,  the  first  convert  from  the  city 
of  Cesarea,  51. 

Cornelius,  bishop  of  Rome,  263. 

Council  at  Rome  against  Novatus,  263. 

Council  against  Paul  of  Samosata,  304. 

Crescens  sent  to  Gaul,  85. 

Crescens,  the  cynic  and  enemy  of  Jus- 
tine, 150. 

,  his  character,  152. 


Crispus,  son  of  Constantine,  438. 
Cyprian,  on  the  baptism  of  those  who 

turned  from  heresy,  272. 
Cyreaius,  the   name,   a  corruption   of 

Quirinius,  28. 

D 
Damas,  bishop  of  Magnesia,  120. 


INDEX. 


469 


Deacons  ordained,  4S. 

Death  of  the  tyrants  that  persecuted  the 

Christians,  391. 
Debeltum,    a    Thracian     colony    under 

^hus  Publius  Julius,  203. 
Decius,  persecution  raised  by  him,  254. 
Decius  and  Gallus,  271. 
Dedication  of  the  renewed  churches,  405. 
Demetrius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  222, 

249. 
Demolition  of  the  churches,  and  decrees 

against  the  Christians,  319. 
Deputation  from  the  Jews  of  Alexan- 
dria, 54. 
Desposynoi,  Sio-Troa-wct,  relatives  of  our 

Lord,  34. 
Descendants  of  David  sought,  99. 
Destruction  of  the  enemies  of  religion, 

401. 
Discrepancy  supposed  to  exist  between 

Matthew  and  Luke,  31. 
Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  85. 
Dionysius,    successor   of    Heraclas,    at 

Alexandria,  252. 

. ,  his  account  of  himself,  256. 

• ,  other  accounts,  261. 

• of  Serapion,  267. 

• ,  epistle  to  Cyprian,  273, 

to  Novatus,  268. 

• ,  on  the  heresy  of  Cerinthus, 

and  the  apocalypse,  113. 

■ ,  respecting  Nepos,  205. 

• ,  epistle  to  Germanus,  in  his 

own  defence,  256. 
■ ,  on    those   who    suffered    at 


Alexandria,  257. 
,  epistle  to  Cornelius,   bishop 

of  Rome,  269. 

,  to  the  Romans,  270. 

,  to  Hermamon,  271. 

,  on  Macrianus,  278.  294. 

,  to  Stephen  of  Rome,  on  the 

baptism  of  those  who  had  fallen  away, 

272,  273. 
,  to  Philemon,  a  presbyter  of 

Rome,  274.        • 
,  to  the  presbyter  Dionysius, 

276. 

to  Xystus,  on  heretical  bap- 


tism, 276, 


,  to  Domitius  and  Didymus  on 

the  persecutions,  283. 

,  on  the  passover,  290, 

to  Hierax,  an  Egyptian  bish- 


op, on  the  sedition  at  Alexandria,  290. 

;  to  the  Alexandrians  on  the 

paschal  festival,  292;    see  also  263, 
304.  148.  150.  169;  et  alibi  passim. 
40 


Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth,  his  testi- 
mony to  the  preaching  of  Peter  and 
Paul  at  Corinth,  and  in  Italy,  80. 

,  his  various  epistles,  1 58. 

,  on  the  contributions  of  the 

Roman  church,  160 

,  mentions  Dionysius  the  Areo- 
pagite, 85.  159. 

Disciples  of  the  seventy,  we  have  no 
catalogue  extant,  42. 

Dissensions  in  Asia,  28. 

Distresses  in  the  reign  of  Maximinus 
389. 

Divinity  of  Christ,  15. 

Docetffi,  231. 

Domitian's  persecution,  101,  102. 

his  honours  revoked,  103. 

Domninus,  231. 

Domninus,  martyr,  359. 

Dositheans,  157. 


Ebionites,  112. 

Ecclesiastical  library  founded  by  Alex 
ander,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  241. 

Ecclesiastical  writers,  135. 

Edessa,  city  devoted  to  CJirist,  49. 

Egyptian  martyrs  in  Phoenice,  325 ;  in 
Egypt,  327;  in  Thebais,  327. 

Egyptian  impostor,  78. 

Eleutherus,  bishop  of  Rome,  206. 

Emperors  Constantine  and  Licinius  is- 
sue decrees,  426.  42S. 

subsequent  war  and  defeat  of 

Licinius,  437. 

Encratites,  heretics,  166. 

Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  124. 

Epistles  of  the  apostles,  those  that  are 
genuine  and  spurious,  83. 

Erynnes,  or  furies,  92. 

Essenes,  159. 

Evangelists,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan,  123. 

Euarestus,  fourth  bishop  of  Rome,  120. 

Eucharist  sent  from  one  bishop  to  an- 
other, 210. 

Euclid,  Aristotle,  and  Theophrastus,  au- 
thors much  admired  by  the  followers 
of  Artemon,  215. 

Eunuch  or  prince  of  Ethiopia,  baptized 
by  Philip,  the  first-fruits  of  the  gospel, 
50. 

Evodius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  104. 

Eusebius,  his  chronicle,  14. 

,  demonstration  and  preparation 

of  the  gospel,  2 1 

roOtt.  ot  martvrs.  I.?0.  I^^.  'fi3. 


470 


INDEX. 


Eusebius,  defence  of  Origen,  243.  252, 

253. 

• ,  life  of  Pamphilus,  252.  315. 

• ,  panegyric    on    the    returning 

peace,  406. 


Fabianus,  his  remarkable  appointment 

to  the  episcopate,  248. 
Fadus,  procurator  of  Judea,  61. 
False  teachers  under  Adrian,  also  Basi- 

lides  and  Saturninus  under  Antonine, 

132. 
Famine  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  57. 
Famine,  pestilence,  and  war  in  the  reign 

of  Maximinus,  386. 
Firmilianus,  a  cruel  judge,  373,  et  alibi. 
Florus,  procurator  of  Judea,  81. 

,  his  cruelty  and  ojjpression,  8) . 

Form   of    salutation   in   the    primitive 

church,  142. 


Galileans  mentioned  by  Josephus,  28. 
Gallienus,  peace   after   his    reign,  285. 

295. 
Gaul,  martyrs  of,  169,  170.  et  seq. 
Genealogy  of  Christ,  32,  33.  109. 
Georae,    yt^p;--',  derivation  and  import, 

34. 
Germanicus,  a  martyr,  143. 
Germanus,  a  martyr,  365. 
Gnostics,  or  Carpocratians,  133. 
Gospel,  proclaimed  at  so  late  a  period, 

whyl    18,  19. 
,  places  where  it  was  preached  by 

the  apostles,  82. 
Gospels,  their  order,  107. 
Great  Sabbath,  145. 

H 

Harmony  of  Moses  and  Jesus,  239. 
Hebrew  or  Syro-Chaldaic,  127. 
Hegesippus,    his    statement    respecting 

James  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  76.  On 

the  relatives  of  our  Lord,   102,   103. 

On  the  martyrdom  of  Simeon,  117. 
Helen,  queen  of  the  Osrhoenians,   61, 
Helcesaites,  254. 
Hemerobaptists,  159. 
Heraclctus,  on  the  apostle,  212. 
Heraclas,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  235. 
Herod,  grandson  of  Herod  of  Ascalon, 

the  first  foreigner  that  reigned  over 

Judea,  29,  30. 
■ ,  manner  in  which  he  obtained 

the  government,  33,  34. 

-,  his  son  Herod  flourished  in  the 


Herod,  his  various  policy,  31. 

,  destroys  the  genealogical  tables, 

34. 

,  cruelty  and  death,  35.  37. 

,  the  younger,  together  with  Phi- 
lip and  Lysanias,  succeeds  Archelaus 
in  the  tetrarchy  of  Judea,  39. 
■•,  is  exiled  with  Herodias, 


Herod  Agrippa,  appointed  by  Caius,  53 

,  his  death,  59. 

Hypotyposes,  or  mstitutions  of  Clement, 


232. 


I  J 


time  of  our  Saviour,  29. 


James,  the  brother  of  John,  slain,  58. 

James  the  Just,  the  brother  of  our  Lord, 
and  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  his  martyr- 
dom, 75. 

,  preferred  by  Peter  and  John,  49. 

,  his  episcopal  seat,  289. 

Jews,  their  miseries,  72.  81.  Seditions, 
72. 

,  last  siege  and  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem, 85.  87.  129 

Ignatius,  second  bishop  of  Antioch,  104. 

■ ,  his  epistles,  120,  121. 

Imperial  decrees  after  the  peace,  426. 

Inscription,  Simoni  Deo  Sancto,  62. 

John,  St.,  Revelations,  101  ;  exiled  to 
Patmos,  narrative  respecting  him,  105. 

,  his  death,  116. 

John  the  baptist,  testimony  of  Josephus 
respecting  him,  41. 

John,  a  martyr,  his  wonderful  memory, 
376. 

John  and  Philip,  place  of  their  inter- 
ment, 116. 

Josephus,  his  antiquities,  29 ;  Jewish 
war,  29. 

• ,  on  Herod,  30.  36,  37. 

,  on  Pontius  Pilate,    39  ;    on 

the  different  high-priests  at  the  time 
of  our  Lord,  40  ;  testimony  respecting 
Christ,  42  ;  on  Philo's  embassy,  54, 
55 ;  irritation  of  the  Jews  against 
Pilate,  56  ;  coincidence  with  Scrip- 
ture, 59,  60,  61  ;  «n  thn  destruction 
of  the  Jews  at  the  passover,  72;  on 
the  Egyptian  impostor,  73  ;  men- 
tions James  the  just,  78  ;  disorders 
of  the  Jews  under  Florus,  81  ;  their 
great  calamities,  86,  87,  88  ;  horrid 
transaction,  91,  92  ;  preludes  to  the 
approaching  ruin,  94,  95  ;  his  works, 
96  ;  testimony  on  the  Scriptures,  97. 

Joshua  and  Jesus,  the  same  name,  23. 

Irenffius,  on  Simon  Magus,  63. 

,  on  Menander,  112. 

Cerinthus,  114. 


INDEX. 


471 


Ircnaeus  quotes  Ignatius,  122. 

,  on  Polycarp,  141,  142. 

,  on  Proverbs,  158. 

. ,  on  Tatian,  165,  166. 

,    against     the    schismatics    at 

Rome,  203. 

,  epistle  to  Florinus,  204. 

Judas,  the  historian,  225. 

Judas  of  Galilee,  29. 

Julian,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  192. 

Julian  of  Apainea,  198. 

Justin,  on  Simon  Magus,  62  ;  Menan- 

der,    112;    his    apology,    135.    139; 

against  Crescens,  the  cynic,  151  ;  on 

the  martyrs,  152,  153;  against  Try- 

phon  and  Marcion,  155. 
Justus,  third  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  120. 

L 

Lapsed  Christians  kindly  received  by  the 
martyrs,  181. 

Leonides,  father  of  Origen,  a  martyr, 
217. 

Library  of  iElia,  241. 

Licinius,  union  with  Constantine,  391. 

• ,  change  of  conduct,  and  his  de- 
feat, 433.  437  ;  and  death,  438. 

Lucianus  defends  Christianity  before 
Maximinus,  and  dies  a  martyr,  385. 

Lucius,  a  martyr,  154. 

Luke,  St.,  a  physician,  85. 

M 

Macrianus  stimulates  Valerian    to  per- 
secution, 278  ;  is  patron  of  the  magi, 
278  ;  characterizedby  Dionysius,  279  ; 
his  death,  294. 
Malchion  refutes  Paul  of  Samosata,  303. 
Manes  and  Manichees,  309, 
Marcianus,  his  heresy,  231. 
Marcion,  138.  142.  192. 
Marcion,  a  brother  of  IreniEus,  212. 
Marcionists,  157. 
Marcus,  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem  from 

the  Gentiles,  138.  192. 
Maria,  a  lake  in  Egypt,  65. 
Marinus,  a  martyr,  286. 
Mark,  St.,  first  proclaimed   Christianity 
in  Egypt,  65. 

,  his  gospel  approved  by  Peter, 

64. 
Martyrdom  of  Simeon,   117;    of  Poly- 
carp, 149. 
Martyrs  mentioned  by  Justin,  153;  of 
Gaul,  169  ;  of  Alexandria,  257.  285  ; 
others,  348.  384,  &c. 
Masbothosans,  158. 

Maturus,  Sanctus,Blandina,  and  Attalus, 
martyrs,  175,  176. 


Maxentius,  son    of  Maximian,  his  cha- 
racter and  conduct,  339,  340. 
Maximian's  cruelty  and  death,  338. 
Maximinus,  his  persecution,  376. 

,    his    pretended    relaxation, 


379. 


his  rescript,  386.  394. 


Maximilla,  Marcion's  companion,  198. 

Maxinius,  Sidonius,  and  Celerinus  aban- 
don the  party  of  Novatus,  264. 

Maximus,  on  the  origin  of  evil,  212. 

Melito  on  the  pussover,  1 62 ;  on  in- 
formers, 162  ;  his  apology  to  the  em- 
peror Marcus,  163 ;  his  selections 
from  Scripture,  154. 

Mclitine  legion,  184. 

Menander,  the  impostor,   111. 

Mcnandrians,  157. 

Miltiades  the  historian,  199. 

Miracles  in  primitive  times,  186. 

■ of  John,  attested  by  ApoUonius, 

202. 

MoJestus  unmasks  the  error  of  Marcion, 
161. 

Montanus,  heresy  of,  165. 195. 

Morals  of  the  persecutors,  339, 

Moses,  a  martyr,  267. 

Musanus,  165. 

N 
Name  of  Jesus  and  Christ,  occurring  in 

the  Old  Testament,  21,  22.  27. 
Narcissus,  third    bishop   of  Jerusalem, 

192. 
,  miracle  performed  by   Mm, 


227. 


rigid  discipline,  228. 


Natalius,  his  apostacy  and  return,  214. 

Nemesion,  a  martyr,  260. 

Nepos  and  his  schism,  295. 

Nero's  cruelty,  74. 

persecution,  79. 

Nicolaus  and  his  followers,  115. 

Novatus,  his  conduct,  heresy,  &c.,  263. 
276, 

O 

Olympiads,  writers  of,  57, 

'Oi^'.Kt.;  tu.uiwc,  books  of  Scripture  so  call- 
ed, 84. 

Order  of  the  gospels,  197. 

Origen,  his  education,  217;  a  pupil  of 
Clement,  225 ;  his  testimony  to  the 
preaching  and  martyrdom  of  Paul,  82 ; 
consistency  of  life,  221  ;  leaves  his 
philosophical  school,  221  ;  self-denial, 
222  ;  providential  escape,  223  ;  reso- 
lute act,  226  ;  difficulties,  226,  227  , 
visits  Rome,  235  ;  Hcraclas  associated 


472 


INDEX. 


with  him,  235 ;  his  ^eat  study  and 
research,  236;  remarks  on  Symma- 
chus'  growing  celebrity,  and  testimony 
from  the  Gentiles,  237,  238  ;  opposed 
by    Porphyry,    238  ;    his    refutation, 

239  ;  his  reasons  for  his  application 
to  Greek  literature,  240  ;  called  to 
Arabia,  and    obtains   the    priesthood, 

240  ;  his  great  zeal  for  biblical  learn 
ing,  243  ;  Eusebius  wrote  his  defence 
243;  his  review  of  the  Scriptures, 
244,  245  ;  gospels,  245 ;  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  246  ;  book  on  martyr- 
dom, 248  ;  his  pupils,  249  ;  commen 
taries  written  in  Palestine,  251  ;  con 
vinces  Beryllus,  252  ;  his  sufferings, 
255  ;  his  defence  by  Eusebius  and 
Pamphilus,  255. 

P 

Palmas,  bishop  of  Amastris,  159. 

Pamphilus,  martyr  and  friend  of  Euse- 
bius, 368. 

Paneas,  a  place  noted  for  a  miracle,  288. 

Panegyric  of  Eusebius  on  the  peace, 
406. 

Pantffinus,  the  philosopher  and  Chris- 
tian, 190. 

Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis,  his  works, 
124  ;  how  he  derived  his  information, 
125;  shows  that  there  were  two  by 
the  name  of  John  in  Ephesus,  125  ; 
testimony  respecting  Aristion,  126  ; 
his  merits  as  a  writer,  126. 

Papirius  and  Melito,  martyrs,  209. 

Paraclete,  194. 

Passover,  discussion  respecting  the  time, 
207. 

Pastor,  the  book  so  called,  188. 

Paul  ofSamSsata,  213. 

refuted  by  Malchion,  303.  312. 

Paul's,  St.,  defence,  acquittal,  and  mar- 
tyrdom, 74. 

Paulinus,  bishop  of  Tyre,  410. 

Paulus,  a  confessor,  361. 

Peace  and  tranquillity  restored,  403. 

Pella,  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  Chris- 
tians, 86. 

Persecutions,  217,  218.    et  alia. 

Persecutors,  their  morals,  339. 

• ,  the  events  that  befell  them, 

343. 

Pestilence  in  the  reign  of  Maxiniinus, 
389. 

. at  Alexandria,  292. 

Peter  at  Rome  against  Simon  Magus, 
63. 

Peter  and  Paul  at  Rome,  79. 
Petrus  Ascetes,  367. 


Phileas  addresses  the  inhabitants  of 
Thmuis,  329. 

Philip,  the  apostle,  116. 

Philip  Cesar,  252. 

Philip  of  Gortyna,  161. 

Phrygian  heresy,  192. 

Pilate  exasperates  the  Jews,  56. 

destroys  himself,  57, 

Pinytus,  bishop  of  Crete,  writes  to  Dio- 
nysius,  159. 

Pliny's  communication  to  Trajan,  119 

Poly  carp,  120.  143. 

Poly  carp  and  Anicetus,  210. 

Poly  crates  against  Victor,  116.  208. 

Pope  or  papa,  origin  of  the  term,  275. 

Pontus  and  Caricus,  231. 

Porphyry,  the  opponent  of  the  Chris- 
tians, 238. 

■ — ,  a  martyr,  372. 

Potamiaena,  a  martyr,  223. 

Pothinus,  a  martyr,  1 74. 

Preaching,  evangelists,  123. 

Predictions  of  Christ,  92. 

Predictions  respecting  Christ,  15. 

Prelates  that  suffered  for  the  faith,  317. 
335.  374. 

Preparation  and  demonstration  of  the 
gospel  works  of  Eusebius,  21. 

Priesthood,  Jewish  changes,  78. 

Privileges  and  immunities  granted  the 
clergy  by  Constantine,  432. 

Procopius,  Alpheus,  and  Zaccheus,  mar- 
tyrs, 349. 

Ptolemy,  a  martyr,  153. 

Publius,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  192 


Quadratus,  an  apologist,  129. 
,  a  prophet,  123.  199. 


Quirinius,  see  Cyrenius,  28. 


Rain  in  consequence  of  the   prayers  of 
the  Christians,  184. 

Reasons  for  the  late  appearance  and  in- 
troduction of  the  gospel,  1 8. 

Religion  of  Christ  not  a  novel  produc- 
tion, 25. 

Rescript  of  Maximinus,  386. 

Restoration  and  dedication  of  the  church- 
es, 404. 

Resurrection,  called  ^=«x.i>^>£V£(r<x,  180. 

Revelation  of  John,  297. 

Revocation    of  the    emperors,   and  the 
subsequent  reverse,  382. 

Rhodon,  pupil  of  Tatian,  192. 
against  Marcion,  192. 


Rome's  first  bishops,  82. 


INDEX. 


473 


Romanus,  a  martyr,  350. 
Rufus,  governor  of  Judea,  131. 

S 
Sabellius,  his  heresy,  274. 
Sacerdotal  plate,  208. 
Sadducus,  a  rioter,  29. 
Sagaris,  a  bishop  and  martyr,  208. 
Salutation,  form  of,  142. 
Sanctus,  a  martyr,   172. 
Saturnilians,  157. 
Saturninus  of  Antioch,  133. 
Schismatics  at  Rome,  203. 
Scriptures,   those  acknowledged  as   ge- 
nuine, 110. 

,  reviewed  by  Origen,  245. 

See  of  St.  James  at  Jerusalem,  289. 
Sects  mentioned  by  Hegesippus,  157. 
Sejanus  attempts  to  destroy  the  Jews, 

55. 
Seleucus,  a  martyr,  372. 
Serapion,  bishop  to  Caricus,  203.  231. 

,  a  martyr,  258. 

,  an  aged  believer  mentioned  by 

Dionysius,  267. 
Sextus  on  the  resurrection,  212. 
Silvanus  and  John,  martyrs,  375. 
Simeon,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  99. 

■,  his  martyrdom,  117. 
Simon  Magus  pretends  faith,  50. 

. his  magic  rites,  &c.,  62. 

Soter,  bishop  of  Rome,  168. 
Statue  at  Antioch,  382. 
Statues   and  images   of  Christ  and   the 
apostles,   preserved   by    the    gentiles, 
289. 
Statue  of  the  woman  having  an  hemor- 
rhage, 289. 
Stromateus,  meaning  of  the  term,  232. 
Style  of  the  apostles,  108. 
Successors  of  St.  James,  131. 
Sufferings  of  the   Christians   in   Gaul, 

169. 
Symmachus,  236. 

T 
Tatian's   errors,   166;  on  Justin,   152; 

Diatessaron,  152. 
TertuUian,  his  apology,  51,  52.  184  ;  on 

Domitian,  103.  119. 
Thaddeus,  sent  by  St.  Thomas  to  Ag- 

barus,  45. 
rhecla,  a  martyr,  352. 
Themiison,  198. 
Theodosia,  a  martyr,  359. 
Theodoras,  a  pupil  of  Origen,  249. 
Theodotion,  the  translator  of  the  Bible, 

189. 
TLcodotus,  a  leader  in  heresy,  214. 
40* 


Theodulus,  a  martyr,  372. 

Thcophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  161. 

Thorapeutffi,  and  Therapeutrides,  66. 

Theudas,  the  impostor,  61. 

Thomas  or  Judas  sends  Thaddeus,  45. 

Thraseas,  a  martyr,  202. 

Tiberius  proposes  Christ  as  a  God,  51. 

Timotheus,  a  martyr,  352. 

Timothy  and  Titus,  84. 

Torture,  diflerent  modes  applied  to   the 

martyrs,  333. 
Town  of  Christians  burnt,  332. 
Tradition  secured  by  record,  121. 
Trajan  prohibits  search  to  he  made  for 

the  Christians,  1 1 9. 
Tryphon,  the  Jew,  refuted  by  Justin, 

154, 

U 

Ulpian  and  .-Edesius,  martyrs,  357. 
Urbanus,  a  presbyter  of  Rome,  264. 
Urbicius,  a  judge,  153. 


Valentina,  a  confessor,  361. 
Valentinian  heresy,  138.  141.  157. 
Valerian  raises  a  persecution,  278. 
Victor,   bishop    of  Rome,  reproved  by 
Polycrates,  208. 

,  admonished  by  IreniEus,  209. 

his  opinion,  214. 


Victory   of  Constantino  and    Licinius, 

397. 
Victory  of  Constantine  over  Licinius, 

437. 
Vision  of  Dionysius,  275. 

W 

Wickedness  of  Licinius,  and  his  death, 

433. 
Word  of  God,  Christ  so  called,  19.  21. 

22,  et  alibi  passim. 
Works  written  in  the  days  of  Origen, 

and  preserved  in  the  library  of  iElia, 

241. 
Writers,    ecclesiastical,  in  the  days  of 

Verus,  156. 
,  those  that  flourished  in  the  days 

of  Eusebius,  310, 

X 

Xystus,  or  Sixtus,  of  Rome,  276.  286- 

Z 

Zaccheus,  a  martyr,  349. 
Zebina,  a  martyr,  365. 
Zebinus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  249. 
Zoticus  of  Comana,  iy«.  '-40'^. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE, 


iHE  STATE   OR   PERIOD  OF  THE   MOST  PROMINENT    PERSONS  AND   EVENTS 
OCCURRING  IN  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY  OF  EUSEBIUS. 


Ill  this  Table,  which  is  designed  chiefly  to  present  a  synopsis  of  the  principal  contemporary 
events  and  persons,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  dates  are  given  according  to  the  vulgar 
eri,  or  four  years  later  than  the  true  time.  The  number  on  the  left  of  the  column  shows 
the  year,  on  the  right  is  given  the  page  of  the  work 


A.  D. 

1.  Oct.    Cses.  Augustus    being  empe- 
ror of  Kome,  Christ  was  born  28 
14.  Tiberius  succeeds  him. 
33.  Christ  crucified  -         -  39 

Tiberius  dies  in  the  twenty -third 
year  of  his  reign,  and  is  succeed- 
ed by  Caius  Cses.  CaUgula  53 
7.  James,  surnamed  the  Just,  bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  the  first  bishop  of 
the  first  Christian  church  49 
The  mission  of  Thaddeus  to  Edes- 
sa  ....         49 

The  name  Christian  grows  into  use 
at  A  ntioch. 
41  Caligula  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Claudius. 
The  famine  mentioned  in  the  book 

of  Acts 58 

43.  Herod  Agrippa  afflicts  the  church, 
and  puts  James  the  great,  brother 
of  John,  to  death  -         58 

Herod  dies  -         -         -         60 

Theudas,  the  impostor  -  61 
Helen,  queen  of  the  Osrhoenians  61 
Simon  Magus  -         -         62 

Peter  at  Rome  -         -         63 

Philo's   communication    with    Pe- 
ter -         -         -         -         66 
Sedition  of  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem, 

and  consequent  destruction. 

Agrippa,    Herod's    son,  appointed 

king  of  the  Jews     -         -         72 

54.  Claudius  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by 

Tiberias  Claudius  Nero  -         72 

1.  Annianus,   bishop    of  Alexandria, 

and  successor  of  St.  Mark        79 

The  first  general  persecution  of  the 

Christian  church     -         -         79 

Peter  and  Paul  suffer  martyrdom, 

and  Linus  is  the  first  bishop  of 

Rome  -         -         -         82 

68.  Nero  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by  Gal- 

ba  and  Otho,  whose  successive 


A.D. 

reigns  did  not  embrace  more  than 
eighteen  months     -         -         85 

69.  Vitellius    acknowledged     emperor, 

but  is  soon  after  killed,  and  Ves- 
pasian declared  emperor  85 
The    Jews  oppressed  by    grievous 
famine            -         -         -         87 

70.  Capture  and   destruction   of  Jeru- 

salem by  Titus,  the  son  of  Ves- 
pasian -         -         69—87 

Gnostics,  Dositheus,  Simon  Magus, 
Ehion,  Cerinthus. 

Simeon,  son  of  Cleopas,  the  second 
bishop  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  the  two  first  bishops 
of  this  church  were  relatives  of 
our  Lord        -         -         -         99 

The  family  of   David  investigated 
by  Vespasian. 
79.  Vespasian  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by 
his  son  Titus. 

Anencletus,  bishop  of  Rome. 
81.  Titus  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by  Do- 
mitian,  a  second  Nero     100,  101 

Second  general  persecution         101, 

Clement,  bishop  of  Rome. 

AviUus,  bishop  of  Alexandria    100 

John  the  apostle,  exiled  to  Pat- 
mos  ...         101 

94.  Fl.    Clement   and  Domitilla,  mar- 
tyrs. 

The  grandchildren  of  Judas,  rela- 
tives of  our  Lord,  yet  living  102 
96.  Death  of  Domilian,  who  is  succeed- 
ed by  Nerva.     Nerva  is  succeed- 
ed by  Trajan. 
98.  Cerdon,  bishop  of  Alexandria     104 

Clement  of  Rome  ;  Ignatus  of  An- 
tioch,  successor  of  Evodius,  the 
first  bishop  -         -         104 

Simeon  of  Jerusalem  suffers  martyr- 
dom, and  is  succeeded  by  Justus 
in  the  episcopate  -         120 

474 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


475 


A.  D. 

About  this  time  the  dates  cf  the 
succession  in  the  church  of  Jeru- 
salem became  uncertain.  The 
first  fifteen  bishops  were  all  He- 
brews. Of  these,  however,  we 
know  but  little  more  than  the 
names  of  the  succession  preserved 
by  Eusebius  -         -         131 

After  these  followed  the  Gentile 
succession,  when  the  dates  be- 
came more  certain.  See  the  ta- 
bular view  of  the  bishops  append- 
ed to  this  table. 
99.  The  apostle  John  dies  at  Ephe- 
sus. 

Euarestus,  bishop  of  Rome         128 

Primus,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 

Alexander  succeeds    Euarestus    in 

the  see  of  Rome     -         -         128 

107.  Ignatius  suffers  martyrdom. 

117.  Trajan  dies,  and    is   succeeded  by 

Adrian  -         -         -         129 

Quadratus  and  Aristides  write  a 
defence  of  Christianity  addressed 
to  Adrian      -         -'       -         129 

Xystus,  or  Sixtus,  bishop  of  Rome, 

Justus  of  Alexandria  ;  Telesphorus 
succeeds  Xystus  at  Rome,  and 
Eumenes  succeeds  Justus  at 
Alexandria  -         -         -         131 

Barchochebas  the  impostor  131 

The  last  siege  of  the  Jews,  when 
the  name  of  Jerusalem  was 
changed  and  called  --Elia,  in  ho- 
nour of  the  emperor,  ^lius  Ad- 
rian -         -         -  132 

About  this  time  appeared  the  here- 
sies of  Menander,  Saturninus,  and 
Basilidcs,  the  offspring  of  the 
heresy  of  Simon  Magus  133 

Adrian  forbids  the  Christians  to  be 
punished  vvithout  trial  136 

Hegesippus  and  Justin    contempo- 
rary writers  -         -         135 
138.  Adrian    dies,  and   is  succeeded  by 
Antoninus  Pius     -         -         137 

Hyginus,  successor  of  Telesphorus 
at  Rome       ...         137 

Valentine  and  Cerdon,  Gnostics, 
notorious' at  Rome         -         137 

Justin  addresses  his  apology  to  An-  I 
tonine,  by  which  the  emperor  is 
induced  to  send  his  edict  to  the 
cities  of  Asia  -         139,  140 

Pius,  bishop  of  Rome,  is  succeeded 

by  Anicetus  -         -         141 

161.  Marcus  Aurelius    Antoninus   suc- 


163, 


180, 


ceeds  Antoninus  Pius,  and  is  as- 
sociated with  Lucius  Antoninus 
Verus,  his  brother  -  142 

Justin  addresses  a  second  apology 
to  the  emperors  ;  about  the  same 
time  also  Athenagoras  and  Tatian 
wrote  their  apologies. 

Martyrdom  of  Justui  and  Poly- 
carp         -         -         -      149,  150 

Fourth  persecution  ;  Anicetus  suc- 
ceeded by  Soter  in  the  see  of 
Rome,  and  Celadion  succeeded  by 
Agrippinus  in  the  see  of  Alexan- 
dria -         -         -         156 

Heron,  Eros,  Theophilus,  bishops 
ofAntioch  -         -         156 

Dionysius  of  Corinth,  Pinytus  of 

Crete,    Philip    Apollinaris,    and 

Melito,  Musanus  Modestus,  and 

Irenseus,    contemporary    writers 

156 

L.  Verus  dies. 

The  Christian  legion  pray  for  rain, 
and  victory  over  the  Marcomanni, 
whence  the  legion  is  called  ful- 
minea  -         -         -         184 

Eleutherus  of  Rome  -         168 

Bardesanes  of  Syria  -         167 

Martyrs  of  Lyons  and  Vienna  in 
Gaul  -         -         -  169 

Syriac  and  Italian  translations  of 
the  New  Testament  are  made 
about  these  times,  as  also  those 
of  Aquila,  Symmachus,  and 
Theodotion. 

Antonine  dies,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Commodus  -         -         190 

Agrippinus  is  succeeded  by  Julian 
in  the  see  of  Alexandria  190 

PantEBuus,   the  philosopher,  at   the 

head  of  the  Alexandrian  school 

190 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  the  pupil 
of  Pantffinus  -         -         191 

Narcissus,  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
being  the  fifteenth  of  the  Gentile 
succession,  which  commenced 
after  the  invasion  of  Judea  under 
Adrian  -         -         -         192 

Rhodo  opposes  the  errors  of  Mar- 
cion     .         -         -         -         192 

Phrygian  errors,  Montanus,  Pris- 
cilla  Maximilla    -         101— 19A 

Blastus,  schismatic,  at  Rome      194 

Miltiadcs  and  ApoUonius,  eccle- 
siastical writers ;  the  latter  dies  a 
martyr  -        .        ,         205 


3L 


476 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


A.D. 

Eleutherus  is  succeeded  by  Victor 
in  the  see  of  Rome  ;  and  Julian 
of  Alexandria  by  Demetrius  206 

Serapion,  bishop  of  Antioch       206 

Nacissus  of  Jerusalem,  Bachyllus 
of  Corinth,  and  Polycrates  at 
Ephesus. 

The  question  respecting  the  pass- 
over  is  now  agitated       -         207 

Artemon's  errors  revived  by  Paul 
ofSamosata  -         -         213 

Natalius,  Asclepiodotus     -         214 

192.  Pertinax. 

193.  Didius  Julius. 

194.  Septimius  Severus,  emperor. 
TertuUian  writes  his  apology      216 
Fifth  persecution      -         -         217 
Martyrdom  of  Philip,  governor  in 

Egypt,  Leonidas,  and  others 
205.  Irenffius  and  the  martyrs  at  Lyons. 
Origen     -         ...         218 
Clement  succeeds  Pantaenus  in  the 

Alexandrian  school 
About  the  same  time  flourished  Ju- 
das the  historian,  Alexander  of 
Jerusalem,  Demetrius  of  Alexan- 
dria, and  Porphyry,  the  opponent 
of  Christianity      -  238,  239 

211.  A.  Caracalla  and  Geta,  emperors. 

217.  Macrinus  with  his  son. 
Zephyrinus  of  Rome,  successor  of 

Victor,  is  succeeded  by  Calis- 
thus,  who  again  left  the  church 
to  Urbanus  -         -         -         242 

218.  Heliogabalus      (alias    Antoninus) 

succeeds  Macrinus         -         242 
222.  Alexander  Severus,  emperor      242 

Philetas  succeeds  Asclepiades  in  the 
see  of  Antioch       -         -         242 

MamEea,  Alexander's  mother,  fa- 
vourable to  Christianity  242 

Hippolytus,  an  ecclesiastical  wri- 
ter      -         -        -         -         242 

Heraclas  succeeds  Demetrius  in  the 
see  of  Alexandria  -         247 

Firmilianus  bishop  of  Cesarea  in 
Cappadocia  -         -         -         247 

Theoctistus  bishop  of  Cesarea  in 
Palestine. 
235.  Alexander  assassinated  by  Maxi- 
minus  Thrax,  who  is  proclaim- 
ed emperor,  and  commences  the 
sixth  persecution  -  -  248 
238.  Maximinus  Thrax  is  succeeded  by 
Gordian. 

Pontianus  is  succeeded  by  Anteros 
in  the  see  of  Rome,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Fabianus  248 


Heraclas  bishop  of  Alexandria  249 
Zebinus  of  Antioch  is  succeeded  by 
Babylas         -         -  -  249 

Africanus,  author  of  the  work  called 
Cesti   -         -         -         -         251 
Beryllus  of  Arabia    -         -         251 
244.  Gordian  is  succeeded  by  Philip  the 
Arabian. 
Origen's     works     on     the    Scrip- 
tures   -         -         -         -         250 
Heraclas  is  succeeded  by  Dionysius 
in  the  see  of  Alexandria         252 
Dissensions  of  the  Arabians       253 
Heresy  of  the  Helcesaites. 
250.  Decius  succeeds  Philip. 

Seventh  persecution  -         254 

Alexander,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  dies 
a  martyr,  and  is  succeeded  by 
Mazabanes. 
Babylas  of  Antioch  also  died  in 
prison,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Fabius  -         -         -         255 

Origen's  great  sufferings  and  tor- 
tures. ....         255 
The  sufferings  of  Dionysius      256 
The  martyrs  at  Alexandria         257 
Novatus     creates     a     schism      at 
Rome  ....         263 
Fabianus   suffers   martyrdom,   and 
Cornelius  bishop  of  Rome     263 
Cyprian  of  Carthage,  and  Fabinus 
of  Antioch   .         -         -         267 
Dionysius  writes  to  Novatus      268 
The  dispute  between  Cyprian  of 
Carthage  and  Stephen  of  Rome 
272 

253.  Gallus  emperor. 

Lucius  bishop  of  Rome    -         271 

254.  Valerianus  emperor. 

Stephen  bishop  of  Rome  -         273 

The  following  bishops  at  this  time 

were    contemporary :    Demetria- 

nus  of  Antioch,  I'heoctistus  of 

Cesarea,    Mazabanes    of    .^lia, 

Marinus  of  Tyre,  Heliodorus  of 

Laodicea,    Helenus    of    Tarsus. 

Stephen  was  succeeded  by  Xys- 

tus  or  Sixtus  II.    -         -         273 

The  Sabellian  heresy         -         274 

Valerian  stimulated   by  Macrianus 

to  persecute  -         -         278 

Dionysius  bishop  of  Rome         302 

The    sufferings    of    Dionysius   of 

Alexandria  -         -        -         280 

The  schism  of  Nepos        •         295 

259.  Gallienus     sole    emperor    on    the 

capture  of    his   father    Valerian 

285 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


477 


A.n 

Cyprian   and   Laurentius    suffered 

martj'rdom. 
The  episcopal  see  of  James  at  Je- 
rusalem held  in  great  veneration 
in  these  times       -  -         289 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria  dies,  and 
is  succeeded  by  Maximus       303 

264.  Paul  of  Saniosata  creates  a  schism, 

268.  and  is  condemned  in  a  council 
at  Antioch    -         -         -         303 

268.  Claudius  emperor  of  Rome        303 
Felix,    successor    of  Dionysius  of 
Rome,  is  succeeded  hy  Eutychia- 
nus,  who  was   soon   after   suc- 
ceeded by  Caius. 

270.  Aurelian  emperor,  to  whom  an  ap- 
peal was  made  against  Paul  of 
Samosata     -         -         -         308 

272.  The  ninth  persecution  commenced 
by  Aurelian  -         -         308 

275.  Tacitus  emperor. 

276.  Florianus  emperor. 

277.  Probus  emperor. 

Origen    of    the   Manichean    here- 
sy       -         -        -         -         300 

282.  Carus  emperor  -         -         308 
Carinus  and  Numerianus  emperors. 

283.  Caius  bishop  of  Rome      -         310 

284.  Diocletian  emperor  of  Rome,    308 

under  whom  the  tenth  great  per- 
secution began,  preceded  by  the 
demolition  of  the  churches     319 

287.  Marcellinus  succeeds  Caius  in  the 
see  of  Rome,  who  was  overtaken 
by  the  persecution  in  his  fifteenth 
year     -         -         -         .         310 

302.  The  tenth  persecution,  the  most 
violent  of  all.  Eusebius  styles  it 
emphatically  the  persecution  310 
Timaeus,  Domnus,  and  Cyrillus  suc- 
cessively bishops  of  Antioch  310 
Tyrannus  succeeds  Cyrillus  310 
Eusebius  successor  of  Socrates  in 
the  see  of  Laodicea. 

304.  Marcellus  succeeds  Marcellinus  in 
the  see  of  Rome,  who  was  fol- 
lowed by  Eusebius.  Neither  of 
these  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius. 
The  former  was  banished  by 
Maxentius  for  his  rigorous  dis- 
cipline ;  tJie  latter  was  banished 
by  the  same  emperor. 

310.  These  were  succeeded  by  Mdtiades 
or  Mclchiades,  who  is  mentioned 
in  connexion  with  Marcus  in  the 
epistle  of  Constantino  -  429 
Diocletian  anu  Maximian  atxiicate 
the  government. 


310.  Constantius  Chlorus  and  Galerius 
Maximianus,  son-in-law  of  Dio- 
cletian, arc  created  Augusti    333 

The  empire  being  thus  divided  be- 
tween the  two  emperors,  Galerius 
adopted  the  two  Ca;sars,  Severus 
and  his  nephew  Maximinus  337 

Licinius  appointed  emperor  and 
Augustus  by  a  common  vote  of 
the  emperors  -         -         338 

Maximinus  assumes  the  title  of  Au- 
gustus ...  338 
306.  Constantius,  emperor  of  the  west, 
dies  in  Britain,  and  Constantine 
his  son  is  proclaimed  emperor; 
an  event  Vv'hich  defeated  the  am- 
bitious and  tyrannical  projects  of 
Galerius  Maximianus    -         338 

Maximian  dies  a  disgraceful  death, 
after  an  attempt  against  the  life 
of  Constantine      -         -         338 

Maxentius,  son  of  Maximian,  as- 
sumes the  imperial  dignity  at 
Rome  -         -         -         -         339 

Maximinus  of  the  east,  and  Maxen- 
tius at  Rome,  secretly  combine 
against  Constantine  and  Lici- 
nius    -         -         -         -         310 

The  excesses  committed  by  the  ty- 
rants   -         -         -  340,  341 

About  this  time  flourished  Anato- 
lius,  distinguished  as  bishop  of 
Laodicea  and  a  writer  311 — 313 

Stephen  bishop  of  Antioch         314 

Theotecnus,  bishop  of  Cesarea  in 
Palestine,  was  succeeded  by  Aga- 
pius,  the  contemporary  of  Pam- 
philus.  Agapius  was  succeeded 
by  Eusebius,  the  author  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  History    -         314 

About  this  time  also  flourished  as 
writers,  Pierius  of  Alexandria, 
Melchius  bishop  of  Pontus,  and 
Miletius,  the  honey  of  Attica  315 

Hymenaeus,  Lambdas,  and  Hermon, 
successively  bishops  of  Jerusalem 
about  this  time      -         -         315 

Maximus,  the  successor  of  Diony- 
sius, was  succeeded  by  Theonas 
in  the  see  of  Alexandria         315 

Theonas  was  succeeded  by  Peter 
and  Achillas,  and  he  by  Alexan- 
der. The  last  of  these  was  in- 
directly the  occasion  of  the  sub- 
sequent Arian  controversy. 

Hermon  of  Jerusalem.  Alexander 
ot  Alexandria,  Miltiacles  ot  Rome, 
Tyrannus  of  Antioch,  TheodotuB 


478 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


A.  D. 

of  Laodicea,  and  Agapius  of  Ce- 
sarea  in  Palestine,  are  the  last 
bishops  mentioned  by  Eusebius 
in  the  most  prominent  sees. 

314.  Miltiades  was  succeeded  by  Sylves- 
ter in  the  see  of  Jxonie,  in  whose 
times  the  council  of  Nice   was 
held. 
Constantine  establishes  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  the  Christian  religion, 
and   liberates  the  Roman  world 
from  oppression     -         -         404 
The  churches  are  now  restored  and 
dedicated      -         .         -         405 
Universal  peace  in  the  church,  large 
endowments  made  by  the  empe- 
ror,   privileges    granted    to    the 
clergy,  with  the    restoration   of 
confiscated  property        431,  432 


A.  D. 

The  splendour  which  the  chureh 
now  began  to  wear  seems  to 
have  laid  the  foundation  to  its 
subsequent  con-uption. 
315.  Licinius  forms  plots  against  Con- 
stantine, but  is  foiled     -         434 

He  proceeds  to  persecute  the  Chris- 
tians with  great  violence        435 

Great  excesses  committed    by  him 


315.  Engages  in  battle  with  Constantine, 
is  totally  defeated,  and  soon  after 
put  to  death  -         -         437 

324.  Constantine  sole  master  of  the  Ro- 
man world. 
This  epoch  forms  the  limits  of  the 
Ecclesiastical    History  of  Euse- 
bius. 


Tabular  View  of  the  Order  of  the  Episcopal  Succession  in 
the  prominent  Dioceses  mentioried  by  Eusebius, 


Bishops  of  Jerusalem. 

30.  Narcissus. 

1.  James  the  brother   of  our 

31.  Dius. 

Lord. 

32.  Germanio. 

2.  Symeon,  son  of  Cleopas. 

33.  Gordius. 

3.  Justus. 

34.  Narcissus  II. 

4.  Zaccheus. 

35.  Alexander. 

5.  Tobias. 

36.  Mazabanes. 

6.  Benjamin 

37.  Hymenaeus. 

7.  John. 

38.  Zabdas. 

8.  Matthias. 

39.  Hermon. 

9.  Philip. 

10.  Seneca. 

11.  Justus. 

Bishops  ofjintioch. 

12.  Levi. 

1.  Evodius. 

13.  Ephres. 

2.  Ignatius. 

14.  Joseph. 

3.  Heron. 

15.  Judas,  last  of  the  Hebrew 

4.  Cornelius. 

succession. 

5.  Eros. 

16.  Marcus. 

6.  Theophilus. 

17.  Cassianus. 

7.  Maximinus. 

18.  Publius. 

8.  Serapion. 

19.  Maximus. 

9.  Asclepiades. 

20.  Julian. 

10.  Philetus. 

21.  Caius. 

11.  Zebinas. 

22.  Symmachua. 

12.  Babylas. 

23.  Caius  n. 

13.  Fabius. 

24.  Julian  11. 

14.  Demetrianus. 

25.  Capito. 

15.  Paul  of  Samosata. 

26.  Maximus  II. 

16.  Domnus. 

27.  Antoninus. 

17.  Timaeus. 

28.  Valens. 

18.  Cyrillus. 

29.  Dolichianus. 

19.  Tyrannus. 

479 

480 


ORDER  OF  EPISCOPAL  SUCCESSION. 
2.  Avilius. 


Bishops  of  Rome. 

Peter  and  Paul,  according  to  Eusebius 
died  as  martyrs  at  Rome  ;  after  these 
followed 

1.  Linus. 

2.  Anencletus. 

3.  Clement. 

4.  Euarestus. 

5.  Alexander. 

6.  Xystus  or  Sixtus. 

7.  Telesphorus. 

8.  Hyginus. 

9.  Pius. 

10.  Anicetus. 

11.  Soter. 

12.  Eleutherus. 

13.  Victor. 

14.  Zephyrinus. 

15.  Callisthus. 

16.  Urbanus. 

17.  Pontianus. 

18.  Anteros. 

19.  Fabianus. 

20.  Cornelius. 

21.  Lucius. 

22.  Stephanus. 

23.  Xystus  or  Sixtus  IL 

24.  Dionysius. 

25.  Felix. 

26.  Eutychianus. 

27.  Caius. 

28.  Marcellinus. 

29.  Miltiades. 

Bishops  of  Alexandria. 

Tlie  evangelist  Mark  established  the 
church  there,  and  after  him  came 

1.  Annianus. 


3.  Cerdo. 

4.  Primus. 

5.  Justus. 

6.  Eumenes 

7.  Marcus. 

8.  Celadion. 

9.  Agrippinus. 

10.  Julianus. 

11.  Demetrius. 

12.  Heraclas. 

13.  Dionysius 

14.  Maximus. 

15.  Theonas. 

16.  Peter. 

17.  Achillas. 

18.  Alexander. 

Bishops  of  Laodicea  mention- 
ed by  Eusebius. 

Thelymedres. 

Heliodorus. 

Socrates. 

Eusebius  of  Alexandria. 

Anatolius. 

Stephen. 

Theodotus. 

Bishops  of  Cesarea  mention' 
ed  by  our  author, 

Theophilus. 

Theoctistus. 

Domnus. 

Theotecnus. 

Agapius. 

Eusebius. 


HISTORICAL     VIEW 


THE     COUNCIL     OF     NICE; 


TRANSLATION  OF  DOCUMENTS. 


BY  REV.  IS.IAC  BOYLE,  D.  D. 


NEW   YORK: 

DAYTON    &    SAXTON. 

1842. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836,  by  the  Rev.  R.  Davis 
&  Brother,  in  iheClerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachuoetts. 


PREFACE. 


The  ecclesiastical  history  of  Eusebius  extends  only 
to  A.  D.  324.  The  Council  of  Nice  was  convened  the 
following  year.  The  publisher  of  Eusebius  being 
about  to  furnish  another  edition  of  the  work,  and 
thinking  that  a  translation  of  certain  documents  re- 
lating to  that  celebrated  convention,  throwing  light  on 
its  transactions,  would  be  interesting  to  the  readers  of 
Eusebius,  and  add  some  value  to  the  new  edition,  the 
writer  of  the  following  pages  was  induced,  at  his  re- 
quest, to  undertake  the  performance  of  such  a  version. 
But  in  the  prosecution  of  his  task,  he  perceived  that 
the  documents  would  be  better  understood,  and,  con- 
sequently, be  more  acceptable  to  the  reader,  if  preceded 
by  a  short  and  connected  view  of  the  origin  of  the 
Arian  controversy,  and  of  the  proceedings  of  the  synod, 
derived  from  such  original  and  authentic  sources  of 
information  as  were  within  his  power.  He  has  there- 
fore introduced  the  documents  by  such  a  summary  of 
events.  In  preparing  it,  it  is  very  possible  he  may 
have  inadvertently  fallen  into  some  mistakes,  but  not. 


4  PREFACE. 

he  trusts,  into  any  error  of  importance.  He  is  con- 
scious, at  least,  of  no  wilful  misrepresentation  of  facts, 
nor  of  any  intentional  departure  from  the  truth  of 
history. 

In  some  instances,  the  writer  has  given  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  authors,  from  whom  he  has  derived  his 
materials,  with  more  minuteness  of  detail  than  may 
seem  consistent  with  the  narrow  limits  to  which  he 
has  been  restricted.  But  he  thought  that  these  par- 
ticulars might  be  useful  as  presenting  a  picture  of  the 
manners  and  character  of  the  times  to  which  they  re- 
late. He  has  also  given  at  length  some  narratives 
which  have  no  immediate  reference  to  his  main  design, 
because  he  considered  them  as  interesting  or  instructive. 

In  the  translations  annexed,  he  has  sought  to  give 
a  faithful  version  of  the  originals,  without,  however, 
obscuring  the  meaning  by  aiming  at  too  great  a  de- 
gree of  mere  verbal  exactness.  In  other  words,  he  has 
endeavored  not  to  sacrifice  the  sense  and  spirit  of  his 
authors  by  too  strict  an  adherence  to  the  letter.  How 
far  he  has  succeeded  in  this  attempt  is  respectfully 
submitted  to  the  decision  of  those  who  are  best  quali- 
fied to  judge. 


A  HISTORICAL  VIEW 


THE    COUNCIL    OF    NICE. 


CONTENTS. 

Introductory  remarks ; — Origin  of  tlie  Arian  dispute  ; — Convocation  at  Nice ; — 
Tlie  logiciins  rcbukod  ; — Conversion  of  a  licathen  pliilosopiicr  ; — Preliminary 
meetings  of  tlie  bishops  ; — Mutual  accusations  of  the  prelates,  and  Constan- 
tine's  raproof; — Opening  of  the  council; — The  opinions  of  Arius  examined 
and  condemned  ; — Time  of  celebrating  Easter  determined  ; — M^letius  ; — Can- 
ons ; — Dialogue  between  Acesius  and  the  emperor  ; — Conclusion  of  the 
Synod ; — Reflections. 

It  was  the  charge  of  our  Saviour  to  his  apostles,  after  his  re- 
surrection, to  "  go  and  teach  all  nations."  This  command  was, 
in  a  great  measure,  accompUshed  by  them,  and  those  who  suc- 
ceeded them  in  the  ministry,  within  three  centuries  of  the  time 
when  the  gospel  was  first  preached  in  Judea  by  its  divine  Author. 
In  the  prosecution  of  their  glorious  enterprise,  a  great  proportion 
of  the  then  known  world,  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  their  inde- 
fatigable labors,  submitted  to  the  religion  of  Jesus.  They  visited 
the  burning  cUmes  of  Africa,  and  the  various  regions  of  Asia,  to 
proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  ;  and  a  great  part  of  Europe, 
from  the  countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  to  the  distant 
shores  of  Britain,  received  the  light  of  Christian  truth.  But, 
although  their  efforts  were  crowned  with  so  considerable  a  share 
of  success,  they  encountered  in  their  progress  almost  continual 
opposition,  and  endured  nearly  every  variety  of  hardship  and  per- 
secution. Some  of  them  were  assailed  ])y  the  bigotry  and  malice 
of  the  Jews,  and  others  became  victims  to  the  rage  and  cnielty  of 
their  gentile  oppressors.  They  were  exposed  to  the  lawless  vio- 
V 


6  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

lence  of  the  iTiultitude,  and  suffered  from  the  sanguinary  decrees 
of  rulers  and  princes.  If,  under  the  milder  sway  of  a  few  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  they  enjoyed  an  interval  of  comparative  repose, 
it  was  only  to  be  followed  by  a  renewal  of  their  calamities.  At 
length,  however,  a  brighter  prospect  was  opened  lo  the  Christian 
world.  Tn  consequence  of  the  victory  of  Constantine  over  the 
tyrant  Licinius,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  323,  external  IranquDhty 
was  fully  secured  to  the  Church  ;  and  in  order  to  confirm  it,  seve- 
ral beneficial  laws  were  enacted  by  the  emperor.  He  recalled 
those  who  had  been  banished  for  the  profession  of  the  faith  ]  and 
the  property  of  such  as  had  been  despoiled  of  their  goods  was  re- 
stored. He  gave  directions  for  enlarging  the  ancient  churches, 
and  building  new  and  more  splendid  ones.  He  commanded  that 
the  clergy  should  be  held  in  honor ;  and  shielded  their  persons 
from  indignity  and  outrage.  The  people  were  exhorted  to  relin- 
quish idolatry,  and  embrace  tlie  true  religion ;  and  many  other 
salutary  measures  were  adopted,  to  extend  the  influence,  and  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  Christianity. 

But  wliile  Constantine  was  zealously  employed  in  this  lauda- 
ble design,  and  the  Church  was  protected  from  foreign  enemies,  a 
dissension  had  arisen  in  its  own  bosom,  which  occasioned  much 
animosity,  and  long  continued  to  disturb  its  domestic  peace.  It 
happened  that  Alexander,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  dis- 
puting one  day,  in  the  presence  of  his  presbyters  and  other  clergy, 
on  the  subject  of  the  three  divine  persons,  and  being  desirous  of 
making  a  display  of  his  knowledge,  remarked,  that  in  the  Trinity 
there  was  a  unity.*  Arius,  one  of  his  presbyters,  who  was  well 
versed  in  the  art  of  reasoning  and  in  metaphysical  distinctions, 
tliinking  that  the  bishop  was  desirous  of  introducing  the  opinion 
of  Sabellius  t  of  Lybia,  inclined  to  an  error  directly  opposed  to  it, 
and  replied,  with  great  asperity,  that  if  the  Father  begat  the  Son, 
the  latter  must  have  had  a  beginning ;  from  which,  he  continued, 
it  clearly  followed  that  there  was  a  time  when  he  was  not,  and 

*  Socrates,  L.  I.  c.  5. 

t  It  will  be  recollected  that  Sabellius,  who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  third 
century,  b  lieved  in  a  modal  Trinity,  considering  the  Son  and  Holy  Spirit  aa 
different  manifestations  only  of  the  Godhead,  and  not  as  separate  persons. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  7 

that  his  substance  was  made  from  nothing.*  These  novel  and 
hitherto  unheard  of  opinions  excited  many  persons  to  enter  into 
the  controversy.  By  a  Uttle  spark  a  great  fire  was  thus  kindled. 
The  evil  which  originated  in  the  church  of  Alexandria,  pervaded 
the  whole  of  Egypt,  Lybia,  and  the  upper  Thebais,  and  reached 
at  length  to  many  other  cities  and  provinces.  Numbers  favored 
the  sentiments  of  Arius ;  but  no  one  defended  them  with  more 
warmth  and  earnestness  than  Eusebius,  formerly  bishop  of  Bery- 
tus,  but  who  had  now  surreptitiously  obtained  possession  of  the 
bishopric  of  Nicomedia,  in  Bithynia.  Alexander,  being  greatly 
incensed  at  these  proceedings,  assembled  a  numerous  council,  in 
which  Arius  and  his  followers  were  deposed ;  and  afterward 
wi"ote  to  the  other  bishops  informing  them  of  the  fact.t  His  let- 
ters, copies  of  which  were  sent  to  all  the  cities  under  his  spiritual 
jurisdiction,  served  only  to  increase  the  mischief,  by  kindling  the 
flames  of  discord  among  those  who  received  them.  Some  signi- 
fied their  approbation  of  the  letter,  while  others  expressed  their 
dissent.  Eusebius,  of  Nicomedia,  opposed  it  more  strenuously 
than  others,  as  it  made  unfavorable  mention  of  himself  The 
credit  of  Eusebius,  at  that  period,  was  great,  because  the  emperor 
then  made  Nicomedia  his  residence,  having  built  a  palace  in  that 
city  a  short  time  before  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  Many  of  the 
bishops,  therefore,  were  subservient  to  the  wishes  of  Eusebius.  He 
was  continually  writing,  sometimes  to  Alexander,  to  induce  him 
to  abandon  the  dispute  Avith  Arius,  and  receive  him  into  commu- 

*  Sozomen  gives  the  following  account  of  this  dispute : — "  Arius  having  de- 
clared his  opinions  in  public,  some  of  those  who  heard  of  them,  blamed  Alexan- 
der  for  having  suffared  him  to  advance  such  novel  doctrines ;  but  tiiis  prelate 
thought  proper  to  leave  the  two  parties  at  liberty  to  dispute  upon  an  obscure 
subject,  lest  if  he  should  prohibit  the  controversy,  he  might  seem  to  terminate  it 
by  forca,  rather  than  by  persuasion.  Sitting,  therefore,  in  the  midst  of  his  clergy, 
he  permitted  every  one  to  say  what  he  thought  proper.  Alexander  inclined 
sometimes  to  one  side,  and  sometimes  to  the  other,  but  declared  at  last  for  those 
who  maintained  tliat  tiic  Son  of  God  is  consubstantial  and  cootcrnal  with  the 
Father,  and  required  Arius  to  hold  the  same  opinion  ;  and  because  he  refused  to 
do  it,  drove  hin;  from  the  Church,  together  with  the  priests  and  deacons  who 
supported  him."     Hist,  Eccles.  L,  I.  c.  15, 

t  Documents,  A. 


8  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

nion,  and  sometimes  to  the  bishops  of  the  different  cities,  in  order 
to  persuade  them  not  to  join  that  prelate.  The  churches  were 
tlius  filled  with  tumult  and  disorder.  Nor  was  the  war  of  words 
confined  to  the  pastors  of  the  church,  but  the  people  also  were 
divided,  inclining  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  parties.  The 
matter  proceeded,  at  length,  to  such  a  shameful  extremity,  that 
the  Christian  religion  was  publicly  ridiculed,  and  afforded  a  sub- 
ject of  profane  merriment  to  the  pagans,  even  in  their  theatrical 
exhibitions.  The  people  of  Alexandria  contended  with  childish 
'  petulance  respecting  the  most  sublime  mysteries  of  our  faith. 
Each  party  sent  messengers  to  the  bishops  of  every  province,  and 
_,  succeeded  in  gaining  individuals  to  their  respective  opinions.  But 
jp  the  Meletians,  who  had  recently  been  separated  from  the  Church, 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Arians.  They  were  so  denominated 
from  Meletius,  one  of  the  bishops  of  Egypt,  who  had  been  deposed 
by  Peter  of  Alexandria,  for  several  reasons,  but  especially  for 
having  offered  sacrifice,  in  time  of  persecution,  to  the  heathen 
divinities.  His  partizans  were  munerous ;  and,  although  he  had 
no  sufficient  cause  for  deserting  the  church,  he  complained  that 
he  had  been  treated  with  injustice  by  Peter,  whom  he  attacked 
with  reproaches  and  calumny.  After  the  death  of  that  prelate, 
who  suffered  martyrdom  under  Diocletian,  he  transferred  his 
abuse  to  Achillas,  who  was  next  to  Peter  in  the  episcopate,  and 
then  to  Alexander,  his  successor.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  con- 
troversy respecting  our  Lord's  divinity  taking  place,  Meletius,  with 
his  followers,  favored  the  party  of  Arius,  and  supported  him 
against  the  bishop.  They  who  thought  that  the  notions  of  Arius 
were  absurd,  approved  of  the  sentence  against  him ;  and  consi- 
dered those  who  agreed  with  him  in  opinion  as  justly  condemned. 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  however,  and  such  as  had  embraced  the 
views  of  Arius,  wrote  to  Alexander,  praying  that  the  excommuni- 
cation might  be  removed,  on  the  ground  that  his  opinions  were 
orthodox. 

On  receiving  intelligence  of  these  transactions,  the  emperor  was 
greatly  afflicted ;  and,  regarding  the  affair  as  his  own  private 
calamity,  spared  no  pains  to  suppress  the  growing  evil.     Accord- 
ingly he  sent  a  letter  *  to  Alexander  and  Arius,  exhorting  them 
*  Documents,  B. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  9 

to  be  reconciled,  by  Hosius,  bishop  of  Corduba,  a  city  of  Spain, 
who  was  a  man  of  approved  fidelity,  and  greatly  beloved  by  the 
emperor.  He  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy,  had  been  a  bishop 
thirty  years,  was  a  confessor  in  the  persecution  of  Maximian,  and 
celebrated  throughout  the  Church.  This  letter,  however  well  in- 
tended, produced  but  Uttle  effect.  The  disorder  indeed,  had  ac- 
quired such  a  degree  of  virulence,  that  neither  the  endeavors  of 
the  emperor,  nor  the  influence  and  authority  of  his  messenger, 
were  of  any  avail.  Both  Alexander  and  Arius  remained  inflexi- 
ble, the  people  disputed  with  still  greater  acrimony,  and  tumults 
became  more  frequent. 

But  there  was  another  subject  which  occasioned  considerable 
uneasiness  in  the  Church,  viz.  the  difference  which  arose  among 
the  orientals  with  respect  to  the  proper  day  of  keeping  Easter, 
some  celebrating  that  festival  in  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  and 
others  following  the  custom  of  Christians  throughout  the  rest  of 
the  world.  This  diversity  of  practice,  however,  with  regard  to 
the  day  of  observing  that  important  solemnity,  did  not  hinder  reli- 
gious fellowship,  although  it  might  cast  a  shade  of  gloom  over 
the  joyful  anniversary  of  our  Saviour's  resurrection.  The  empe- 
ror, therefore,  finding  that  the  quiet  of  the  Church  was  not  a  little 
disturbed  by  these  two  evils,  assembled  (by  the  advice  of  some  of 
the  prelates,  according  to  Rufinus,)  a  general  council,  inviting,  by 
letter,  all  the  bishops  to  meet  at  Nice,  in  Bithynia,  and  furnishing 
them  with  the  means  of  conveyance.  In  consequence,  a  great 
number  of  them,  not  less  than  three  hundred  and  eighteen,*  ar- 
rived fi-om  various  cities  and  territories,  attended  by  a  vast  con- 

*  The  early  historians  of  the  church  differ  considerably  as  to  the  number  of 
bishops  assembled  on  this  occasion.  Athanasius  mentions  about  three  hundred, 
and  in  one  passage  of  his  work  expressly  says  that  there  were  three  hundred 
and  eighteen.  Eusebius  speaks  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty.  Eusta. 
thius,  of  Antioch,  who  was  present,  as  well  as  the  two  already  named,  and  was 
an  active  membar  of  the  synod,  declares  that  there  were  about  two  hundred  and 
seventy,  but  that  he  cannot  give  the  exact  number,  on  account  of  the  great  mul- 
titude who  attended  ;  nor  indeed  does  he  profess  to  have  been  very  solicitous  to 
ascertain  it.  Sozomen  reckons  about  three  hundred  and  twenty.  The  number 
mentioned  in  the  text  was  at  length  generally  admitted  as  the  correct  one.  Sea 
Cave,  Hist.  Eccles.  Lit.  p.  223. 


10  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

course  of  the  inferior  clergy.  Daily  and  ample  provision  was 
made  by  Constantine  for  the  support  and  accommodation  of  this 
numerous  body.  It  is  mentioned  by  Sozomen,  that  several  per- 
sons were  also  present,  well  instructed  in  the  dialectic  art,  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  the  bishops. 

So  great  a  synod  was  without  previous  example ;  for  the 
Church  was  not  at  liberty  to  convoke  such  numerous  assemblies 
under  the  pagan  emperors.  The  pastors  of  three  churches  found- 
ed by  the  apostles,  were  present,  Macarius,  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
Eustathius,  of  Antioch,  and  Alexander,  of  Alexandria.  Of  this 
memoraljle  council,  Eusebius  Pamphilus  speaks  in  the  following 
terms.*  "  The  most  distinguished  ministers  of  God  met  together 
from  every  part  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  The  sacred  edifice, 
as  if  enlarged  by  the  pleasure  of  God,  inclosed  at  the  same  time 
within  its  walls,  both  Syrians  and  Cilicians,  Phenicians,  Arabi- 
ans, and  inhabitants  of  Palestine  ;  Egyptians,  Thcbeans,  and 
Lybians,  with  others  arriving  from  Mesopotamia.  A  bishop  from 
Persia  was  also  present.  Nor  was  the  Scythian  absent  from  this 
assembly.  Pontus,  also,  and  Galaiia,  Pamphylia  and  Cappado- 
cia,  Asia  and  Phrygia  furnished  representatives  from  their  most 
able  divines.  Thracians  too,  Macedonians,  Achaians  and  Epi- 
rotes,  and  those  who  resided  at  a  vast  distance  beyond  them,  were 
convened.  That  illustrious  Spaniard,  who  is  so  highly  spoken 
of,  took  his  seat  with  the  others.  The  prelate  of  the  imperial 
city,  indeed,  was  absent  on  account  of  his  advanced  years,  but  his 
place  was  supplied  by  presl^yters.  Constantine,  alone,  of  all  the 
princes  who  ever  lived,  wove  so  briUiant  a  crown  as  this,  joined 
together  by  the  bond  of  peace,  as  a  suitable  acknowledgment  of 
gi-atitude  to  Heaven  for  the  victories  vouchsafed  him  over  his 
enemies,  and  dedicated  it  to  God  his  Saviour,  in  bringing  to- 
gether so  great  a  convention ;  an  image,  as  it  were,  of  the  apos- 
toUc  assemljly.  For  it  is  related  that  in  the  times  of  the  apostles, 
religious  men  were  gathered  together  from  every  nation  under 
heaven.  Among  them  were  Parthians,  Medes,  Elamites,  and 
inhabitants  of  Mesopotamia,  Judca  and  Cappadocia,  Pontus,  Asia 

«  Vit,  Const.  L.  III.  c.  7. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  11 

and  Pamphylia,  Egypt,  and  the  parts  of  Lybia,  which  is  near 
Cyrene ;  strangers  also  of  Rome,  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes  and 
Arabians.  In  that  congregation,  however,  there  was  this  cir- 
cumstance of  inferiority,  that  all  who  were  collected  together  were 
not  ministers  of  God,  while  the  present  assembly  included  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty  bishops ;  but  such  a  multitude  of 
presbyters,  deacons  and  acolothists  accompanied  them,  that  it  was 
difficult  to  determine  their  number.  Among  these  holy  ministers, 
some  excelled  by  the  wisdom  and  eloquence  of  their  discourse, 
others  by  the  gravity  of  their  deportment  and  patience  of  labor ; 
and  others,  again,  by  their  humility,  and  the  gentleness  of  their 
manners.  Some  of  them  were  honored  on  account  of  their  grey 
hairs,  while  others  w^ere  recommended  by  their  youthful  vigor 
and  activity,  both  of  body  and  mind.  Several  of  them  had  but 
recently  begun  to  exercise  the  functions  of  their  ministry." 

This  account  of  Eusebius  may  sufficiently  refute  the  dispara- 
ging language  of  Sabinus,*  bishop  of  Heraclca  in  Thrace,  who  de- 
rides the  fathers  of  Nice  as  ordinary  and  ignorant  men.  It  is 
very  probable  that  in  so  large  an  assembly,  collected  from  various 
quarters,  such  a  character  might  be  applicable  to  some  individuals } 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  there  was  a  fair  proportion  of 
men  of  talents,  learning  and  piety,  in  this  convocation.  Some 
were  confessedly  eminent  for  knowledge  and  abilities ;  and  seve- 
ral of  them,  according  to  Theodoret,  had  exercised  miraculous 
powers,  which,  though  less  common,  it  is  likely,  in  the  third  and 
fourth  centuries,  than  in  the  preceding  ages  of  the  Church,  were 
yet  to  be  found,  in  the  opinion  of  some  respectable  writers,  within 
its  communion.  Others  were  esteemed  on  account  of  their  past 
sufferings  in  the  cause  of  our  holy  religion,  still  bearing  in  their 
bodies,  like  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  "  the  marks  of  the 
Lord  Jesus." 

Before  the  opening  of  the  council,  some  who  were  experienced 
in  the  practice  of  disputation,  began  to  agitate  questions  of  theo- 
logy.    A  layman  of  good  sense,  who  had  the  courage  to  confess 

»  Ho  was  of  the  sect  of  M  icodonius,  who  considered  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  di- 
vine energy,  and  not  a  distinct  person. 


19  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

the  name  of  Christ,  in  a  time  of  persecution,  perceiving  that  many 
were  attracted  by  the  force  and  elegance  of  their  discourses,  un- 
dertook to  rebuke  them  by  remarking,  that  neither  our  Lord  nor 
his  apostles  had  taught  us  the  rules  of  logic,  or  idle  subtleties,  but 
the  truth,  which  is  preserved  by  faith  and  good  works.  All  who 
were  present  listened  to  him  with  admiration,  and  approved  of 
what  he  had  said.  The  speakers  themselves  became  more  mo- 
derate in  consequence ;  and  the  noise  and  clamor  excited  by  their 
animated  declamation  were  no  longer  heard. 

It  is  also  related  *  that  certain  heathen  philosophers  were  anx- 
ious to  take  a  part  in  the  dispute,  some  of  them  wishing  to  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  doctrmes  of  the  gospel,  and  others,  to 
whom  the  Christians  were  obnoxious,  on  account  of  the  decaying 
credit  of  their  own  religion,  desiring  to  create  a  misunderstanding, 
and  to  foment  divisions  among  them.  One  of  these  "seekers 
after  wisdotii,"  in  the  vain  confidence  of  his  imagined  eloquence, 
assuming  an  insolent  manner,  endeavored  to  turn  the  priests  into 
ridicule.  But  a  plain  and  illiterate  old  man,  one  of  those  Avho 
had  been  distinguished  as  confessors,  was  unable  to  bear  his  arro- 
gance ;  and,  although  unversed  in  the  rules  of  logic  and  the  art 
of  disputation,  ventured  to  accost  him.  This  excited  the  laugh- 
ter of  some  inconsiderate  persons,  to  whom  he  was  known,  but 
alarmed  the  more  reflecting,  who  apprehended  that  he  might  ex- 
pose himself  in  so  unequal  a  contest.  Their  respect  for  his  cha- 
racter, however,  prevented  any  attempt  to  hinder  him  from  speak- 
ing. "Listen,"  he  said,  "philosopher,  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 
There  is  one  God,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all 
things  visible  and  invisible,  who  has  performed  all  this  by  the 
power  of  his  Word,  and  established  it  by  the  holiness  of  his  Spirit. 
The  Word,  which  we  call  the  Son  of  God,  pitying  the  errors  of 
men  and  their  brutish  way  of  hfe,  condescended  to  be  born  of  a 
woman,  to  sojourn  among  them,  and  to  die  for  their  salvation. 
He  will  come  again,  to  judge  the  actions  of  every  one  in  this  life. 
We  believe,  in  the  simplicity  of  our  hearts,  that  this  is  the  truth. 
Do  not  then  fruitlessly  trouble  yourself,  in  seeking  arguments 

*  Sozomen,  I.  8. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  13 

against  these  things,  or  in  attempting  to  discover  the  mode  in 
which  they  may  be,  or  not.  But  if  you  beheve,  only  tell  nie  so." 
The  philosopher,  not  a  little  astonished  at  this  unexpected  address, 
answered,  1  believe ;  and,  thanking  the  old  man  for  having  van- 
quished him,  recommended  it  to  those  with  whom  he  had  for- 
merly agreed  in  sentiment,  to  follow  his  example,  solemnly  declar- 
uig,  that  the  change  which  he  had  experienced  was  the  effect  of 
divine  power,  and  that  he  felt  himself  inexplicably  hnpelled  to 
embrace  the  faith  of  Christ. 

The  bishops  had  several  conferences  among  themselves  previ- 
ously to  the  day  when  they  were  to  proceed  to  the  formal  decision 
of  affairs,  and  on  which,  Constantine  desued  to  be  present.  Arius 
having  been  sent  for  on  these  occasions,  declared  his  opinions  as 
they  are  given  in  his  letters  ;* — that  God  has  not  always  been  a 
Father,  and  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  was  not ;  that 
the  Son  is  a  creature  hke  the  others ;  that  he  is  mutable  by  his 
nature  ;  that  by  his  free  will  he  chose  to  remain  virtuous,  but  that 
he  might  change  hke  others.  He  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not 
true  God,  but  divine  by  participation,  like  all  others  to  whom  the 
name  of  God  is  attributed.  lie  added,  that  he  was  not  the  sub- 
stantial Word  of  the  Father,  and  his  proper  wisdom,  by  w  hich  he 
had  made  all  things,  but  that  he  Avas  himself  made  by  the  eternal 
wisdom ;  that  he  is  foreign  in  every  thing  from  the  substance  of 
the  Father ;  that  we  were  not  made  for  him,  but  he  for  us,  when 
it  was  the  pleasure  of  God,  who  was  before  alone,  to  create  us ; 
that  he  was  made  by  the  will  of  God,  as  others  are,  having  no 
previous  existence  at  all,  since  he  is  not  a  proper  and  natural  pro- 
duction of  the  Father,  but  an  effect  of  his  grace.  The  father,  he 
continued,  is  invisible  to  the  Son,  and  the  Son  cannot  know  Imn 
perfectly ;  nor,  indeed,  can  he  know  his  own  substance.  Some 
expressions  of  Arius  are  deemed  too  iiueverent  to  be  repeated,  but 
the  curious  reader  may  find  them  in  the  works  of  Athanasius.f 
The  bishops,  assembled  as  they  were  from  so  many  different  and 
widely  separated  countries,  stopped  their  ears  on  hearing  such  Ian- 

*  One  of  them  may  be  found  among  tlie  Documents  annexed,  C. 
+  Orat.  I.  contra  Arianos,  p.  294  and  2D5. 

2 


14  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

guage,  and  rejected  this  doctrine  as  remote  and  alien  from  that  of 
the  Chmxh.  After  a  protracted  discussion,  some  were  of  opinion 
that  nothing  new  should  be  introduced,  and  that  they  should  hold 
to  the  faith  which  was  received  from  the  beginning  by  tradition. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  with  those  whose  simplicity  of  cha- 
racter led  them  to  receive  religious  truths  without  a  minute  ex- 
amination. Others  contended  that  it  was  not  expedient  to  follow 
the  opinions  of  the  ancients  without  inquiry.  Many  of  the 
bishops,  and  of  the  ecclesiastics,  who  attended  them,  acquired 
great  reputation  at  these  prehminary  meetings,  by  exhibiting  their 
strength  in  the  art  of  logic,  and  their  practised  skiU  in  disputes  of 
this  nature,  and  thus  made  themselves  known,  not  only  to  the 
emperor,  but  also  to  his  courtiers  ;  and  from  that  time  Athanasius, 
a  deacon  of  the  church  of  Alexandria,  who  accompanied  Iris 
bishop,  took  the  principal  part  in  this  important  discussion. 

Constantine  being  desirous  of  meeting  so  great  a  number  of 
prelates  as  were  assembled  at  Nice,  as  well  as  of  promoting  peace 
and  unanimity,  repaired  to  that  city,  after  he  was  informed  of 
their  arrival.  But  as  it  too  frequently  happens,  many  of  that 
sacred  order,  as  if  they  had  met  together  on  their  private  concerns, 
and  supposing  that  they  had  found  a  favorable  opportunity  of 
having  their  grievances  redressed,  presented  to  the  emperor  writ- 
ten complaints  against  their  brethren.  As  he  was  almost  contin- 
ually importuned  with  memorials  of  this  kind,  he  deferred  the 
consideration  of  them  all  to  a  certain  day.  At  the  appointed 
time,  he  addressed  the  prelates  to  the  following  effect.  "  All  these 
accusations,  my  friends,  must  be  finally  determined  at  the  great 
day  of  account,  by  the  common  Judge  of  all  men.  But  it  does 
not  belong  to  a  man  like  myself  to  take  cognizance  of  these  mu- 
tual charges,  as  they  are  brought  by  bishops,  who  ought  so  to  de- 
mean themselves  as  not  to  be  judged  by  others.  Imitate,  then, 
the  divine  clemency  in  forgiving  one  another ;  and  rehnquishing 
your  reciprocal  imputations,  agree  to  be  at  peace :  And  let  us 
give  our  attention  to  those  articles  of  faith,  for  the  consideration 
of  which,  we  have  convened  in  this  place."  He  assured  them, 
according  to  Theodoret,*  although  this  seems  to  have  been  said 

*  Hist.  Eccles.  I.  11. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  15 

at  another  time,  that  he  had  never  read  their  Hbels.  lie  declared 
that  the  deUnquencies  of  the  prelates  ought  not  to  be  pubUshcd, 
lest  they  should  prove  an  occasion  of  offence  to  the  people ;  and 
even  added,  that  if  he  should  surprise  a  bishop  in  adulter}^,  he 
would  cover  him  with  his  imperial  mantle,  for  fear  that  the  ex- 
ample of  the  crime  should  be  prejudicial  to  those  who  might  wit- 
ness it.  He  then  conunanded  them  to  desist  from  their  unseemly 
recriminations,  and  ordered  their  memorials  to  be  thrown  into  the 
fire. 

The  day  appointed  by  the  emperor  for  the  public  session  of  the 
council  was  under  the  consulate  of  Paulinus  and  Julian,  the  thir- 
teenth of  the  calends  of  July,  answering  to  the  nineteenth  of 
June,*  A.  D.  325.  On  the  arrival  of  that  day,  says  Eusebius,t 
all  those  who  were  to  be  present  at  the  council,  assembled  in  an 
apartment  in  the  centre  of  the  palace,  which  was  larger  than  any 
of  the  others.  Many  benches  were  disposed  on  each  side,  and 
every  one  took  his  proper  place.  When  all  were  seated  with 
suitable  decorum,  they  awaited  the  coming  of  the  emperor.  First 
one,  then  another,  and  then  a  third,  of  his  attendants  entered  the 
hall.  Others  also  preceded,  not  armed  men,  nor  any  of  his  usual 
guard,  but  only  his  particular  friends.  At  the  signal  which  an- 
nounced the  entrance  of  the  emperor,  all  arose,  and  he  appeared 
in  the  midst  of  them,  his  purple  robe,  resplendent  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  dazzling  the  eyes  of  the  beholders.  That  his 
mind  was  impressed  with  rehgious  awe  was  evident  in  his  down- 
cast eyes,  his  blushing  countenance,  and  his  modest  step  and 
movement.  He  was  taller  than  any  of  those,  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded.  Nor  was  he  in  stature  only,  but  also  in  elegance  of 
form,  and  robustness  of  frame,  superior  to  the  others.  These  ex- 
ternal advantages  were  heightened  by  courteousness  of  behavior, 

*  Socrates  s^ys,  that  it  was  on  the  20th  of  May,  but  Valesius  thinks  he  was 
mistiken.  Atticus,  bisliop  of  Constantinoplf,  mentions  the  Nth  of  June,  but 
tlie  date  assum-^d  by  the  writer  is  supported  by  the  council  of  Calcedoii  and  the 
Al  xindrim  Chrpnicle.  The  rf^ader  who  may  wish  to  see  a  full  examination 
of  this  difficulty,  is  refirred  to  Tillomont,  memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  eccle- 
Biastique,  Tom.  VI.  Note  I,  sur  le  Concile  da  Nicee. 

t  Vit.  Cons.  III.  7. 


16  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

and  a  princely  condescension,  indicative,  says  his  biographer,  of 
the  noble  qualities  of  his  mind.  When  he  had  reached  the  upper 
end  of  the  hall,  he  remained  standing  in  the  middle,  between  the 
highest  places,  before  a  small  chair,  burnished  with  gold,  which 
was  prepared  for  his  accommodation,  until  he  Avas  requested  to  be 
seated  by  the  bishops,  Avho  then  resumed  their  places. 

The  prelate  *  who  occupied  the  seat  on  the  right  side  of  the 
emperor  then  addressed  him  in  a  short  speech,  giving  thanks  and 
praise  to  Almighty  God  for  the  benefits  conferred  on  the  Church 
through  his  instrumentality.  When  he  was  seated,  the  spectators 
all  continued  in  silence,  fixing  their  eyes  upon  the  emperor,  who, 
surveying  them  with  a  cheerful  and  serene  expression  of  counte- 
nance, and  employing  a  few  moments  to  collect  his  thoughts, 
spake  to  the  following  purport,  in  a  pleasant  and  subdued  tone  of 
voice.  "It  was,  my  dear  friends,  my  most  cherished  wish,  that  I 
might  one  day  enjoy  the  sight  of  this  convention.  Having  been 
indulged  in  this  desire,  I  return  thanks  to  God,  the  ruler  of  all, 
who,  in  addition  to  innumerable  other  favors,  has  granted  me  this 
greatest  of  all  blessings,  to  see  you  assembled  together,  and  united 
in  your  minds.  May  no  mahgnant  foe  disturb  in  future  our 
public  happiness.  After  the  complete  subversion,  by  the  help  of 
God  our  preserver,  of  the  tyranny  of  those,  who  warred  against 
the  Most  High,  let  no  malevolent  demon  again  expose  the  divine 
law.  in  any  other  manner,  to  slander  and  detraction.  An  inter- 
nal sedition  in  the  Church  is,  in  my  apprehension,  more  dan- 
gerous and  formidable  than  any  war,  in  which  I  can  be  engaged ; 
nor  do  foreign  concerns,  however  unfortunate,  affect  my  mind 
with  so  sensible  a  grief  as  this  unhappy  affair.  After  I  had  be- 
come victorious,  by  divine  assistance,  over  all  my  enemies,  I 
thought  that  it  only  remained  for  me  to  render  thanks  to  God, 
and  to  participate  in  the  universal  joy  with  those,  whose  liberation 
he  has  accomphshed  through  my  agency  and  efforts.  But  when 
the  unwelcome  news  of  your  dissensions  was  brought  to  my  ears, 
I  conceived  that  the  report  should  by  no  means  be  neglected ;  and 
hoping  that  by  my  interference,  a  remedy  might  be  applied  to  the 
evil,  I  sent  for  you  all,  without  delay.  Great  indeed  is  my  satis- 
*  Eustathius,  according  to  Theodoret.  I.  7. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  17 

faction  to  see  you  assembled  together.  But  I  shall  consider  the 
object  of  my  prayers  and  labors  as  fully  obtained,  when  I  shall 
behold  you  united  in  the  purpose  of  promoting  harmony  and  con- 
cord ;  which,  as  persons  consecrated  to  God,  it  is  your  duty  to 
preach,  and  to  inculcate  on  others.  Endeavor  then,  my  friends, 
ministers  of  God,  and  faithful  servants  of  a  common  master  and 
Saviour,  that,  the  causes  of  your  disagreement  being  removed, 
all  the  asperities  of  controversy  may  be  smoothed  by  the  dictates 
of  peace.  By  pursuing  this  com-se,  you  will  not  only  do  that, 
which  is  pleasing  to  God,  who  is  exalted  above  all,  but  Avill  con- 
fer an  important  benefit  on  myself,  your  fellow  servant."  Thei 
emperor  also  remarked,*  that  the  power  of  the  enemy  being  de- 
stroyed, and  no  one  remaining  to  make  any  resistance,  it  would 
be  deplorable  indeed,  if  they  should  now  molest  one  another,  and 
give  occasion  to  those,  who  regarded  them  with  no  friendly  as- 
pect, to  turn  their  quarrels  into  ridicule.  Their  business,  he  said, 
was  with  matters  of  theology,  the  decision  of  which  depended  on 
the  instructions  which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  left  them.  The  gos- 
pel, the  letters  of  the  apostles,  and  the  works  of  the  ancient  pro- 
phets, teach  us,  with  sufficient  clearness,  what  we  are  obliged  to 
believe  concernmg  the  divine  nature.  Let  us  then  renounce  all 
angry  contentions,  and  seek  in  the  books  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  dictated,  the  solution  of  our  doubts. 

The  oration  of  Constantine  was  pronounced  in  Latin,  which 
was  his  vernacular  tongue.  Another  person  translated  it  into 
Greek,  which  was  better  understood  by  most  of  the  fathers,  as  it 
was  generally  diffused  in  all  parts  of  the  East.  The  emperor 
then  gave  those  who  presided  in  the  council  an  opportunity  of 
speaking,  and  permitted  the  members  to  examine  matters  of  doc- 
trine and  religious  differences. 

The  opinions  of  Arius  were  first  examined  in  the  presence  of 
the  emperor.  He  repeated  what  he  had  said  on  former  occasions. 
The  Eusebians,  anxious  to  defend  him,  entered  into  the  dispute. 
The  other  bishops,  who  were  beyond  comparison  the  greater 
number,  mildly  required  them  to  give  an  account  of  their  doc- 

*  Theodoret,  I.  7. 
2 


18  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

trinej  and  to  support  it  by  suitable  proofs.  But  no  sooner  had 
they  begun  to  speak,  than  they  seemed  to  be  at  variance  with 
themselves ;  they  remained  confounded,  and  seeing  the  absurdity 
of  their  heresy,  confessed  their  shame  by  their  silence.*  The 
bishops  having  refuted  their  allegations,  explained  the  holy  doc- 
trine of  the  Church.  The  emperor  patiently  hstened  to  these  dis- 
putes, which  were  agitated  at  first  with  considerable  warmth. 
He  gave  great  attention,  says  Eusebius,  to  Avhat  was  advanced 
on  either  side  ;  and  sometimes  reproving,  sometimes  encouraging 
the  speakers,  he  moderated  by  degrees  the  violence  of  the  con- 
tending parties.  He  spake  kindly  to  every  one  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, with  which  he  was  not  unacquainted,  gaining  over  some 
of  them  to  his  opinion  by  the  strength  of  his  arguments,  and 
softening  others  by  his  entreaties.  He  commended  those  who 
spake  judiciously,  persuaded  them  all  to  concord,  and  reduced 
them  at  last  to  an  agreement  on  the  contested  points.! 

A  letter  of  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  was  read  in  the  council, 
which  evidently  contained  the  heretical  opinion,  and  discovered 
the  management  of  the  party.  It  excited  so  much  indignation 
that  it  was  rent  in  pieces,  and  Eusebius  was  overwhelmed  with 
confusion. T  He  says,  among  other  things,  that  if  the  Son  of  God 
was  acknowledged  to  be  uncreated,  it  would  be  necessary  to  ad- 
mit, that  he  was  consubstantial  with  the  Father.  §  It  has  been 
thought  that  this  was  the  letter  to  Paulinus  of  Tyre,  in  which  the 
same  idea  is  expressed  in  other  words.  II  The  Arians  also  pre- 
sented to  the  council  a  confession  of  faith,  which  was  torn  on 
being  read,  and  pronounced  to  be  spurious  and  false.  A  great 
outcry  was  raised  against  them,  and  they  were  generally  accused 

*  Athan.  de  decretis,  p.  251. 

t  Eus.  III.  13. 

t  Eustath.  as  quoted  by  Theodoret.  I.  8. 

§  According  to  Ambrose,  occasion  was  taken  from  this  expression  of  Euse- 
bius, which  discovered  so  great  a  dread  of  the  word  consubstantial,  to  adopt  that 
formidable  term  against  the  Arians.  "  Hoc  verbum  posuerunt  patres,  quod  vide- 
runt  adversariis  esse  formidini ;  ut  tanquam  evaginato  ab  ipsis  gladio,  ipsum 
nefandcB  caput  lieroeseos  amputarent."  de  fide  L.  III.  c.  7. 

II  Documents,  D. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  19 

of  having  betrayed  the  truth.*  The  council  wishing  to  set  aside 
the  terms  employed  by  the  Arians,  and  to  use  words  authorized 
by  scripture,  said  that  our  Lord  was  by  nature  the  only  Son  of 
God,  the  alone  Word,  power  and  Avisdom  of  the  Father,  true  God, 
accordmg  to  St.  John ;  the  splendor  of  the  glory,  and  the  image 
of  the  substance  of  the  Father,  as  St.  Paul  writes.  The  parti- 
sans of  Eusebius  said  among  themselves,t  let  us  consent  to  this, 
for  we  also  are  of  God,  since  it  is  written,  "  there  is  one  God,  from 
whom  all  things  proceed."  And  m  another  place,  "  old  things 
have  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  new,  but  all  things  are  of 
God."  The  bishops,  however,  who  comprehended  their  design, 
explained  mbre  clearly  the  words  "  of  God,"  by  saying  that  the 
Son  was  of  the  substance  of  God.  It  is  true,  they  remarked,  that 
creatures  are  said  to  be  from  God,  because  they  exist  not  of  them- 
selves, nor  -without  a  cause ;  but  the  Son  alone  is  properly  of  the 
substance  of  the  Father.  For  this  is  peculiar  to  the  only  begot- 
ten and  true  Word  of  the  Father,  and  therefore  the  expression 
"  of  the  substance  of  the  Father"  has  been  employed. 

The  prelates  having  again  asked  the  Arians,  who  seemed  to  be 
few  in  number,  if  they  allowed  that  the  Son  was  not  a  creature, 
but  the  alone  power,  wisdom  and  image  of  the  Father,  and  in  no 
respect  whatever  different  from  him,  and  that  he  is  true  God,  it 
was  observed,  that  Eusebius  and  his  adherents  made  signs  to  one 
another  that  all  these  particulars  might  agree  to  men,  for  we  too, 
said  they,  are  called  the  image  and  glory  of  God.  There  are 
many  powers,  for  it  is  written,  "  all  the  powers  of  God  Vv^ent  out 
of  Eg}'pt."  The  caterpillars  and  locusts  too  are  called  the  great 
power.  "  The  God  of  powers  is  with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob,  our 
protector."  We  are  not  merely  the  children  of  God,  since  the 
Son  of  God  himself  calls  us  his  bretlnen.  And  as  to  their  de- 
nominating the  Son  true  God,  that  occasions  us,  they  said,  no 
embarrassment,  for  he  is  so  truly,  because  he  has  been  made  so. 
But  the  bishops  perceiving  thek  sophistry  and  dissimulation,  pro- 
duced a  collection  of  passages  from  the  sacred  writings,  where  the 

*  Theodoret,  I.  7. 

t  Athan.  de  decret.  p.  367,  et  epist.  ad  Africanos,  as  reported  by  Theodoret. 
1.8. 


20  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

Son  is  called  splendor,  fountain,  river,  and  figure  of  the  substance; 
and  quoted  the  words  "  in  thy  light  shall  we  see  light,"  and  "  I 
and  my  Father  are  one."  FinaUy,  they  explamed  themselves 
with  more  clearness  and  brevity,  in  declaring  that  the  Son  is  con- 
substantial  with  the  Father,  making  use  of  the  Greek  word 
o/ioovaioc,  which  this  dispute  has  since  rendered  so  celebrated,  as 
expressive  of  the  meaning  of  the  terms  and  passages  which  have 
been  cited.  It  was  understood  to  signify  that  the  Son  is  not  only 
like  the  Father,  but  so  similar  that  he  may  be  called  Vv^ith  pro- 
priety the  same ;  and  implies  that  the  resemblance  and  immuta- 
bility of  the  Son  is  different  from  that  which  is  affirmed  of  us,  and 
which  we  acquire  by  the  practice  of  virtue,  and  the  observation 
of  the  divine  commands.  Besides,  bodies  which  have  a  resem- 
blance only,  may  be  separate  and  distant ;  as  a  father  and  a  son, 
however  great  may  be  the  likeness  between  them.  But  tlie  Son 
of  God  was  considered  not  only  similar  to  the  substance  of  the 
Father,  but  inseparable  from  it,— the  Word  being  always  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  the  Word. 

The  Arians  rejected  vnth  murmurings  and  contempt  the  term 
consubstantial,  complaining  that  it  was  not  to  be  found  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  might  be  taken  in  a  very  exceptionable  sense. 
For,  they  remarked,  that  which  is  of  the  same  substance  with  an- 
other is  derived  from  it  in  one  of  these  three  modes ;  by  produc- 
tion, as  a  plant  from  its  root ;  by  fluxion,  as  children  from  their 
fathers ;  or  by  division,  as  in  abstracting  three  or  four  pieces  from 
a  mass,  for  instance,  of  gold.*  The  Cathohcs  explained  so  hap- 
pily the  term  consubstantial,  that  the  emperor  himself,  little  as 
we  may  suppose  him  to  have  been  familiar,  from  his  education 
and  military  habits  of  life,  with  theological  inquiries,  perceived 
that  it  did  not  include  any  corporeal  idea,  no  division  being  signi- 
fied of  the  substance  of  the  Father,  which  is  altogether  immate- 
rial and  divine,  and  must  therefore  be  understood  only  m  a  divine 
and  ineffable  manner.  They  demonstrated  the  injustice  of  their 
opponents,  in  ol^jecting  to  this  word,  on  the  pretence  that  it  is  not 
to  be  found  in  Scripture,  when  they  themselves  scrupled  not  to 

*  Basil,  Epist.  300, 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  21 

employ  expressions,  which  are  not  in  the  sacred  writings,  such  as, 
that  the  Son  of  God  was  made  from  nothing,  and  had  not  always 
existed.  They  added,  that  the  term  consubstantial  was  not  a 
new  one,  and  that  it  had  been  used  by  illustrious  bishops  of  Rome 
and  Alexandria  in  opposing  those  who  represented  that  the  Son 
was  a  work,  or  creation.  Eusebius  of  Cesaria  himself  acknow- 
ledges this.*  It  was  insisted  by  some,  that  the  word  consubstan- 
tial  had  been  objected  to,  as  improper,  in  the  council  of  Antioch, 
which  was  hfeld  against  Paul  of  Samosata.  But  this,  it  was  as- 
serted, was  because  it  had  been  taken  in  a  gross  manner,  as  im- 
plying division,  as  when  it  is  said  that  several  pieces  of  money 
are  of  the  same  metal.  But  the  only  question  in  reference  to 
Paul,  was  to  show  that  the  Son  was  before  all  things,  and  that, 
being  the  AVord,  he  was  made  flesh ;  whereas  the  Arians  admit 
that  he  was  before  all  time,  maintaining,  however,  that  he  was 
made,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  creatures.  They  declared  that 
his  resemblance  to,  and  union  with,  the  Father,  was  not  with 
regard  to  his  substance  or  nature,  but  in  a  conformity  of  will  and 
counsel.! 

After  the  word  consulastantial,  and  others  the  best  adapted  to 
express  the  cathohc  faith,  were  agreed  on,  Hosius,  according  to 
Athanasius,  drew  up  the  form,  as  recorded  in  the  letter  of  Euse- 
bius. AU  the  bishops  approved  of  this  symbol  and  subscribed  it, 
with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of  Arians.t  At  first,  there 
were  seventeen  who  refused  to  subscribe,  but  the  number  was 
afterwards  reduced  to  five,  viz.  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Theognis 
of  Nice,  Maris  of  Calcedon,  Theonas  and  Secundus  of  Lybia. 
Eusebius  of  Cesarea  agreed  to  the  word  consubstantial,  after 
having  opposed  it  the  preceding  day.  Three  of  the  five  who 
have  been  named  conceded  the  point  at  last,  from  the  fear  of  de- 
position.     Theonas  and  Secundus  only,  continued  obstinately 

*  Documents,  E.  ' 

t  By  comparing  the  above  sketch  of  the  debate  on  this  subject,  derived  from 
Athanasius  and  others,  with  the  account  of  it  given  in  the  letter  of  Eusebius  of 
Cesarea,  (Doc.  E.)  which  is  somewhat  different,  if  not  in  certain  particulars  con- 
tradictory, the  intelligent  reader  may  be  the  better  enabled  to  elicit  the  truth, 
t  Socrates,  L  8. 


22  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

attached  to  Arius,  and  the  Synod  anathematized  them  with 
him.*  The  writings  of  Arius  were  condemned  at  the  same  time 
with  himself,  and  particularly  his  Thalia.t 

The  question  relating  to  the  observance  of  Easter,  which  was 
agitated  in  the  time  of  Anicetus  and  Polycarp,  and  afterwards  in 
that  of  Victor,  was  still  undecided.  It  was  one  of  the  principal 
reasons  for  convoking  the  council  of  Nice,  being  the  most  import- 
ant subject  to  be  considered  after  the  Arian  controversy.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  churches  of  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  continued  to 
follow  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  and  celebrated  Easter  on  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  moon,  whether  falling  on  Sunday  or  not.  AU 
the  other  churches  observed  that  solemnity  on  Sunday  only,  viz. 
those  of  Rome,  Itaty,  Africa,  Lybia,  Egypt,  Spain,  Gaul  and 
Britain ;  and  all  Greece,  Asia,  and  Pontus.  It  was  considered 
indecorous,  and  as  affording  occasion  of  scandal  to  unbelievers, 
that  while  some  were  engaged  in  fasting  and  penitence,  others 
should  be  indulging  in  festivity  and  relaxation. 

This  subject  having  been  discussed,  it  was  decreed  to  celebrate 
Easter  on  the  same  day,  and  the  oriental  prelates  promised  to 
conform  to  the  practice  of  Rome,  of  Egypt,  and  of  all  the  West. 
St.  Athanasius  remarks  a  difference  of  language,  in  pronouncing 
on  this  subject,  from  that  which  was  used  in  reference  to  the 
faith.     With  respect  to  the  latter  it  is  said,  "this  is  the  catholic 


*  Philostorgius,  an  Arian  historian,  of  whose  work  an  epitome  is  extant  by 
Photius,  acknowledges  that  all  the  bishops  agreed  to  the  Nicene  Creed,  with  the 
exception  of  Secundus  and  Theonas.  But  the  Arian  prelates  who  embraced  the 
decision  of  the  council,  artfully  concealed  under  the  word  ojioovaiov  the  term 
ofioiovatov,  the  former  signifying  of  the  -same  substance,  and  differing  in  ortho- 
graphy only  by  a  letter  from  the  latter,  which  means  like,  or  similar.  The 
course  they  adopted  (in  assenting  to  the  decrees  of  the  council,)  was  by  the  sug- 
gestion of  Constantia,  sister  of  the  emperor.     Phil.  L.  I.  8. 

t  It  was  a  chant  set  to  the  same  measure  and  music  as  the  infamous  songs  for- 
merly composed  for  convivial  occasions  by  Sotades,  a  Greek  poet,  proverbinl  for 
his  flagrant  immoralities.  This  was  sufficient  to  render  it  odious,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  erroneous  opinions  which  it  contained,  for  Arius  had  incorporated  into  it 
the  substance  of  his  doctrines.  He  composed  several  other  airs,  to  insinuate  his 
opinions  more  agreeably  into  vulgar  and  uncultivated  minds.  Some  of  them 
were  intended  for  travellers,  sailors,  and  millers.     See  Phil.  L.  II.  2. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  23 

faith,  we  believe,"  &c.,  in  order  to  show  tliat  it  was  no  new  de- 
termination, but  an  apostohc  tradition.  Accordingly,  no  date  is 
given  to  this  decision,  neither  the  day  nor  the  year  being  men- 
tioned. But  with  regard  to  Easter,  it  is  said,  "  we  have  resolved 
as  follows,"  in  order  to  show  that  all  were  expected  to  obey.* 
Easter  day  was  fixed  on  the  Sunday  immediately  following  the 
new  moon  which  was  nearest  after  the  vernal  equinox,  because  it 
la  certain  that  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead  on  the  Sunday 
which  next  succeeded  the  passover  of  the  Jews.  In  order  to  find 
more  readily  the  first  day  of  the  moon,  and  consequently  the  four- 
teenth, the  council  ordained  that  the  cycle  of  nineteen  years 
should  be  made  use  of,  because  at  the  end  of  this  period,  the  new 
moons  return  very  nearly  to  the  same  days  of  the  solar  year. 
This  cycle,  which  is  denominated,  in  Greek,  EvveaKaLdeKaeTtipig, 
had  been  discovered  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years  before, 
by  Meto,  a  mathematician  of  Athens,  and  it  has  since  been  term- 
ed the  golden  number,  because  it  was  customary  to  mark  in  the 
calendar  with  letters  of  gold,  the  days  of  the  new  moon.  It  has 
been  thought  that  the  synod  assigned  the  task  of  this  calculation 
t„o  Eusebius  of  Cesarea.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  he  had  com- 
posed a  paschal  canon  of  nineteen  years,  and  that  he  had  explain- 
ed the  nature  and  origm  of  this  question  in  a  treatise  dedicated  to 
the  emperor  Constantine,  who  gave  him  thanks  for  it  in  a  letter. 
But  notwithstanding  the  decision  of  the  council  there  were  some 
quartodecimans,  as  they  were  termed,  who  remained  pertina- 
ciously attached  to  the  celebration  of  Easter  on  the  fourteenth  of 
the  moon,  and  among  others  the  Audeans,  schismatics  of  Meso- 
potamia. They  found  fault  with  the  covmcil,  reproachfull}^  re- 
marking, that  this  was  the  first  time  that  the  ancient  tradition, 
through  complaisance  for  Constantine,  had  been  departed  from. 

The  Synod  was  also  desirous  of  applying  a  remedy  to  the 
schism  of  the  Meletians,  who  had  occasioned  a  division  in  Egypt 
for  twenty-four  years,  and  who  encouraged  the  Arians  l^y  their 
union  with  the  party.  Meletius  was  treated  with  considerable 
lenity — more,  it  was  thought,  than  he  deserved.     He  was  per- 

*  Synod.  Arim,  et  Seleuc.  Epist.  p.  873. 


U  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

mitted  to  continue  in  Lycopolis,  the  city  of  his  residence,  but  was 
deprived  of  his  ecclesiastical  powers  and  authority,  being  merely 
permitted  to  retain  the  title  of  bishop.  But  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  synodical  epistle  *  for  the  particulars  in  relation  to  Meletius, 
and  those  who  had  received  ordination  at  his  hands. 

Another  part  of  the  business  of  the  council  was  the  framing  of 
several  canons,  or  general  laws  of  discipline,  not,  it  is  understood, 
to  establish  a  new  code  of  regulations,  but  chiefly  to  preserve  the 
ancient  rules  of  conduct  imposed  on  the  clergy,  which  had  been 
too  much  relaxed  or  neglected.  These  canons  t  are  twenty  in 
number,!  and  have  been  acknowledged  as  genuine  by  all  anti- 
quity. The  bishops  were  inclined  to  pass  an  ecclesiastical  law  in 
addition  to  the  others,  requiring,  according  to  Socrates,  that  those 
who  had  been  admitted  to  holy  orders,  the  bishops,  priests  and 
deacons,  and,  according  to  Sozomen,  the  subdeacons  also,  should 
abstain  from  cohabitation  with  the  wives  whom  they  had  mar- 
ried while  they  were  laymen.  When  this  topic  was  proposed  for 
debate,  and  the  opinions  of  the  synod  were  called  for,  Paphnutius, 
rising  from  his  seat  in  the  midst  of  the  bishops,  and  raising  his 
voice,  protested  against  the  imposition  of  so  heavy  a  yoke  on  the 
clergy,  remarking,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  that  marriage  was 
honorable  and  the  nuptial  bed  undefiled,  and  that  such  an  excess 
of  rigor  might  rather  be  injurious  than  beneficial  to  the  Church ; 
that  every  one  was  not  capable  of  so  entire  a  continence,  and 
that  the  repudiated  wives  might  forfeit,  perhaps,  their  conjugal 
virtue.  He  added,  that  he  considered  the  marriage  union,  sanc- 
tioned by  the  laws,  as  pure  and  chaste ;  that  it  was  sufficient,  ac- 
cording to  ancient  usage,  that  he,  who  had  once  been  admitted 
to  the  clerical  order,  should  no  longer  be  permitted  to  marry  ;  but 
that  it  was  unnecessary  to  separate  him  from  the  wife  whom  he 
had  espoused  when  in  the  condition  of  a  layman.  It  was  thus 
that  the  venerable  confessor  supported  his  sentiments,  although 
he  had  not  only  never  been  mairied  himself,  but  had  always  re- 

*  F.  t  Documents,  I. 

t  Some  of  the  Eastern  Christians  mention  a  much  greater  number.  See  J.  S. 
Asscman,  Bibloth.  Orient.  Clement.  Vatic,  torn.  I.  p.  22,  195.  and  Cave,  Hist. 
Lit.  p.  224. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  25 

frained  from  illicit  intercourse  with  the  other  sex,  having  been 
educated  from  childhood  in  a  monastery,  in  which  he  was  distin- 
guished for  his  singular  purity  of  life.  The  council  acceded 
unanimously  to  the  views  of  Paphnutius,  and,  without  further 
deliberation,  left  those  who  were  already  married  to  continue  in 
the  state  of  wedlock  or  not,  at  their  own  discretion. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  eighth  canon  of  the  synod  relates 
to  the  sect  of  Novatians,  who  were  called  Cathari,  that  is,  the 
pure.  The  last  words  of  this  canon  are  remarkable,  and  contain 
an  important  rule,  that  there  should  never  be  two  bishops  in  the 
same  city.  The  emperor,  moved  by  his  zeal  for  peace  and  union 
in  the  Church,  had  mvited  to  the  council  a  Novatian  bishop  by 
the  name  of  Acesius.  A  conversation  of  some  interest  between 
Constantino  and  this  prelate  is  recorded  both  by  Socrates  and  So- 
zomen,  which  may  be  as  well  related,  perhaps,  in  this  place  as  in 
any  other.  When  the  form  of  faith  was  written,  and  the  synod 
had  suljscribed  it,  the  emperor  asked  Acesius,  if  he  also  agreed  to 
that  confession  of  faith,  and  approved  of  the  resolution  concerning 
Easter.  "  My  prince,"'  he  replied,  "  I  know  of  nothmg  new  de- 
termined by  the  council.  I  have  always  understood,  that  from 
the  beginning,  from  the  very  days  of  the  apostles,  the  same  defi- 
nition of  the  faith,  and  the  same  time  of  celebrating  the  festival 
of  Easter,  has  been  handed  down  to  us  by  tradition."  ""Why 
then,"  rejoined  the  emperor,  "  do  you  separate  yourself  from  our 
communion?"'  Acesius  explained  to  him  what  had  happened 
under  the  persecution  of  Decius,  when  many  fell  fi"om  the  profes- 
sion of  the  faith ;  and  spake  of  the  rigor  of  the  canon,  which  for- 
bade receiving  those,  to  the  participation  of  the  sacred  mysteries, 
who,  after  baptism,  had  committed  any  such  sin  as  is  pronounced 
in  scripture  to  be  a  sin  unto  death.  "  They  ought,  indeed,"  he  said, 
'•'  to  be  mged  to  repentance,  but  not  encouraged  to  hope  for  par- 
don through  the  ministration  of  the  priests.  For  this  they  should 
look  directly  to  God,  who  alone  has  the  power  and  prerogative 
of  remitting  sins."  The  bishop  having  thus  spoken,  the  emperor 
replied,  '•'  Take  a  ladder,  Acesius,  and  ascend  alone  to  heaven." 

Before  separating,  the  council  prepared  a  synodical  epistle,* 
»F. 


26  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

chiefly  intended  for  the  church  of  Alexandria,  as  being  most  in- 
terested in  all  the  acts  of  the  Synod.  It  is  also  addressed  to  all 
the  faithful  of  Egypt,  Pentapolis,  Lybia,  and  all  other  churches 
whatever.  The  emperor  Constantine  wrote  at  the  same  time  two 
letters,  in  order  to  promulgate  the  ordinances  of  the  council,  and 
to  make  them  known  to  those,  who  were  not  present  at  the  con- 
vention. The  first*  is  particularly  addressed  to  the  church  of 
Alexandria,  and  informs  them  that  the  faith  has  been  examined, 
and  placed  in  so  clear  a  light  that  no  difficulty  remains.  Copies 
of  this  letter  were  dispatched  to  all  the  provinces.  The  secondt 
is  directed  to  the  churches  in  general.  He  published  also  another 
letter,  or  more  properly  an  edict,  directed  to  the  bishops  and  people, 
condemning  Arius  and  his  writings.  He  says  that  Porphyry, 
having  composed  impious  books  against  Christianity,  rendered 
himself  infamous  in  the  eyes  of  posterity,  and  that  his  writings 
were  destroyed.  It  has  in  hke  manner,  he  continues,  been  de- 
creed, that  Arius  and  his  followers  be  called  Porphyrians,  so  that 
they  may  bear  the  name  of  him  whom  they  have  imitated  ;  and 
that  if  any  book  written  by  Arius  shall  be  found,  it  shall  be  com- 
mitted to  the  flames,  that  no  monument  of  his  corrupt  doctrine 
may  descend  to  future  ages.  He  declares  that  whoever  shall  be 
convicted  of  having  concealed  any  book  composed  by  Arius,  in- 
stead of  bm-ning  it,  shall  suffer  death  immediately  after  his  appre- 
hension. With  whatever  degree  of  aversion  we  may  contemplate 
the  doctrines  of  Arius,  it  is  painful  to  witness  so  melancholy  a  for- 
getfulness  in  the  first  Christian  emperor,  of  the  benignant  temper 
of  Him,  who  rebuked  the  unhallowed  zeal  of  the  disciples,  as  not 
knowing  what  spirit  they  were  of,  when  they  would  have  called 
down  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  the  inhospitable  Samaritans. 
At  the  same  time,  Arius  and  the  two  prelates  who  adhered  the 
most  obstinately  to  his  party,  Secundus  and  Theonas,  were  ban- 
ished by  the  emperor. 

The  council  concluded  its  session  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
August,  A.  D.  325,  a  month  after  the  commencement  of  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Constantine,  who  ascended  the 
throne  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  A.  D.  306;  but  it  is  thought 

*  Documents,  G.  t  Documents,  H. 


*■ 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  27 

that  the  festival  on  that  occasion,  which  was  celebrated  in  every 
part  of  the  empire  with  great  solemnity,  was  deferred  in  compli- 
ment to  the  termination  of  the  synod.  During  the  public  rejoic- 
ings, Eusebius  of  Cesarea,  in  the  presence  of  Constantine,  and 
surrounded  by  the  bishops,  pronounced  a  panegyric  on  the  empe- 
ror. A  magnificent  entertairjment  was  provided  by  that  prince, 
"  for  the  ministers  of  God,"  to  borrow  the  graphic  language  of 
Eusebius,  "now  reconciled  with  one  another,  as  an  acceptable 
sacrifice  offered  to  the  Divine  Being,  through  them.  No  one  of 
the  bishops  was  absent  from  the  imperial  banquet,  which  was 
more  admirably  conducted  than  can  possibly  be  described.  The 
guards  and  soldiers,  disposed  in  a  circle,  were  stationed  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  palace  with  drawn  swords.  The  men  of  God  passed 
through  the  midst  of  them  without  fear,  and  went  into  the  most 
private  apartments  of  the  royal  edifice.  Some  of  them  were  then 
admitted  to  the  table  of  the  emperor,  and  others  took  the  places 
assigned  them  on  either  side.  It  was  a  lively  image  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  and  appeared  more  like  a  dream  than  a  realit}^" 
At  the  conclusion  of  this  splendid  festival,  the  emperor  courteously 
saluted  every  individual  of  the  company,  and  presented  his  guests 
with  rich  and  valuable  gifts,  according  to  their  respective  rank 
and  merits.  When  they  were  about  to  separate,  he  took  a  friendly 
leave  of  them,  exhorting  them  to  union,  harmony  and  mutual 
condescension ;  and  concluded  by  recommending  himself  to  theii- 
prayers.  Thus  ended  the  great  council  of  Nice,  which,  it  is  said, 
is  still  celebrated  by  the  Greeks  and  Orientals  among  the  festivals 
of  the  saints. 

Nothing,  in  the  preceding  narrative,  appears  to  give  any  coun- 
tenance to  that  supremacy  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  which  was 
claimed  and  conceded  in  later  ages.  He  was  merely  represented 
in  his  absence  by  two  presbyters.  He  seems  to  have  possessed  no 
pre-eminence,  nor  any  exclusive  privileges.  Bossuet  indeed  asserts, 
on  the  authority  of  Gelasius  Cyzicenus,  a  writer  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  fifth  century,  that  Hosius  was  one  of  the  legates  of  the  Ro- 
man prelate,  and  presided  in  the  council ;  but  it  is  generally  admit- 
ted that  the  testimony  of  Gelasius  is  of  httlc  value  when  unsup- 
ported by  other  wniters ;  and  no  earlier  historian  makes  any  mention 
of  a  fact,  which,  if  true,  would  scarcely  have  been  left  vmrecorded. 


28  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

The  remarkable  unanimity  of  the  synod  on  the  subject  of  our 
Saviour's  true  and  proper  divinity,  the  only  one  examined  b);^  that 
convention,  which  excites  mucli  interest  at  the  present  day,  may 
be  considered,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  as 
affording-  a  powerfid  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  this  important 
doctrine.  Every  part  of  the  Christian  v/orld  was  virtually  repre- 
sented by  men,  who,  from  their  commanding  station  and  favor- 
able opportunities,  must  be  supposed  to  have  Ijeen  Avell  acquainted 
with  what  was  understood  to  have  been  the  doctrine  of  the  apos- 
tles, on  this  unportant  article  of  our  faith.  Most  of  them,  probably, 
lived  within  two  centuries  of  the  death  of  St.  John.  Could  the 
original  doctrine  have  been  lost  in  a  period  so  comparatively 
short?  Could  it  have  been  corrupted?  Could  it  have  been 
generally  corrupted  throughout  the  Church  ?  If  not,  the  fathers 
of  Nice  must  have  held,  in  this  respect,  the  faith  delivered  by  the 
first  preachers  of  Christianity,  and  consequently  the  true  one. 
They  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  what  was,  and  had  been, 
believed,  in  their  respective  countries.  The  agreement,  therefore, 
on  this  point,  of  so  many  different  nations,  as  expressed  by  their 
representatives,  nations  of  such  various  characters,  pursuits,  man- 
ners, customs  and  prejudices,  can  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for 
only  on  the  supposition,  that  they  had  received  their  belief  from  a 
common  source,  and  preserved  it  pure  by  tradition,  during  the 
few  generations  which  had  elapsed  from  the  time  when  they  first 
received  the  gospel  from  the  apostles  themselves,  or  from  those 
who  lived  not  long  after  the  apostolic  age.  It  may  be  said,  that 
many  of  the  members  of  the  council  might  have  been  deterred 
from  expressing  thek  real  belief,  as  some  few  of  them  undoubtedly 
were,  from  the  fear  of  exile  or  deposition.  But  they  appear  to 
have  been  almost  unanimous  on  this  subject  before  any  threats 
of  that  kind  were  held  out,  and  therefore  such  an  apprehension 
could  have  operated  on  a  very  small  number  only ;  and  if  even  a 
mere  majority  had  been  Arians,  the  danger  would  obviously  have 
been  on  the  other  side.  St.  Chrysostom  remarks,  that  it  would 
be  absurd  to  charge  the  council,  composed  as  it  was,  in  a  great 
measure,  of  saints  and  confessors,  either  with  ignorance  or  fear. 
Nor  does  this  reflection  seem  to  be  unfounded.  For,  how  can  it 
be  reasonably  supposed,  that  in  the  situation  in  wliich  they  were 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  29 

placed,  and  which  has  akead)^  been  adverted  to,  they  could  he  in 
any  doubt  whether  our  Lord  was  divine  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
term,  or  a  creature  only,  however  exalted  in  rank  and  dignity ; 
or  that  such  men  would  have  disguised  their  genuine  persuasion, 
from  the  fear  of  losing  thek  sacerdotal  honors,  or  of  missing  those 
temporal  advantages  and  emoluments,  which  they  might  natu- 
rally have  expected  to  enjoy  uhdcr  tlie  dominion  of  a  Christian 
prince  1  Was  it  for  them,  men  of  unblemished  integrity  and  vir- 
tue, basely  to  violate  their  consciences  for  "  a  piece  of  bread  ?"'  or 
descend,  for  the  sake  of  office,  from  their  elevated  position,  as 
"  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,"  to  the  meanness  of  subterfuge  and 
dissimulation'?  Was  it  for  men  who  were  born  and  grew  up 
amidst  scenes  of  pagan  insult,  cruelty  and  oppression,  and  many 
of  whom,  for  their-  courageous  defence  of  the  truth,  had  been  de- 
prived» of  their  substance,  or  loaded  with  chains,  or  confined  in  a 
dmigeon,  or  maimed  and  disfigured  in  their  persons ;  and  who 
would  doubtless  have  accompanied  their  heroic  brethren  in  the 
faith,  "  counting  not  their  Uves  dear  unto  them,"  to  the  scaffold  or 
the  stake ;  or  would  have  expii-ed  in  torments  on  the  rack,  or 
been  nailed  to  a  cross,  or  become  food  for  lions,  rather  than  "  blas- 
pheme that  worthy  name  whereby  they  were  called ;" — was  it  for 
tlie?n  to  stoop  to  such  moral  degradation  ?  men,  too,  some  of 
whom  had  been  distinguished  by  the  episcopal  mitre  at  a  period 
when  it  was  so  far  fiom  advancing  their  w^orldly  interest,  that  it 
only  exposed  them  more  surely  to  the  "  loss  of  all  things,"  added 
to  their  toils,  their  trials  and  their  sufferings,  and  served  but  to 
render  them  a  more  conspicuous  mark  for  heathen  persecution  ? 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  language  and  actions  of  the  pre- 
lates were  sometunes  harsh  and  overbearing,  and  httlc  adapted  to 
encourage  freedom  of  debate.  It  must  be  confessed,  that,  mea- 
sured by  the  standard  of  modern  usage  in  deliberative  bodies, 
their  deportment  was  occasionally  vehement  and  impassioned. 
But,  is  no  allowance  to  be  made  for  ancient  manners,  and  for  the 
fervid  and  exaggerated  style,  both  of  speaking  and  acting,  when 
under  the  influence  of  strong  emotion,  so  prevalent  in  the  eastern 
and  southern  regions,  of  which  so  considerable  a  proportion  of  the 
members  of  the  synod  were  natives?  It  might  be  asked,  how- 
'6* 


30  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

ever,  from  what  cause  so  general  an  ebullition  of  indignant  feel- 
ing proceeded.  Was  it  not  that  their  ears  were  wounded  by 
language  which  they  considered  as  blasphemous,  and  that  senti- 
ments were  avowed  which  they  regarded  as  alien  from  the  behef 
of  every  part  of  the  globe  enlightened  by  the  gospel,  and  contrary 
to  the  uniform  and  uninterrupted  tradition  every  where  received 
from  the  times  of  the  apostles ;  a  tradition  to  which,  as  well  as  to 
the  scriptures,  they  solemnly  appealed ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
although  the  Arians  alleged  passages  from  the  sacred  writings 
in  support  of  their  opinion,  they  did  not  even  pretend  that  it  was 
sanctioned  by  the  ancient  and  universal  faith  of  the  Christian 
Church? 

It  will  only  be  added,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  protestant 
community  believe  that  the  doctrine  of  our  Saviour's  divinity  is 
satisfactorily  proved  by  the  Scriptures  alone,  independently  of 
any  foreign  aid,  on  a  fair  application  to  the  sacred  text  of  the 
legitimate  rules  of  interpretation.  But  if,  on  a  view  of  what  has 
been  advanced  from  the  words  of  scripture  for  and  against  that 
doctrine,  any  doubt  on  the  subject  should  remain,  would  not  the 
historical  evidence  afforded  by  the  result  of  the  synod  of  Nice, 
(evidence  which,  in  secular  concerns,  would  be  esteemed  of  great 
importance  in  detemiining  a  question  of  fact,)  go  far  to  remove  it, 
without  assuming,  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  infallible  autho- 
rity of  that  veneralDle  convocation,  or  believing,  with  Constantine, 
that  its  decision  was  guided  by  divine  inspiration  ? 

The  opinions  of  the  "disputatious  presbyter"  of  Alexandria, 
whose  followers  were  soon  divided  into  several  sects,  long  con- 
tmued  to  be  the  occasion  of  angry  contentions  and  mutual  perse- 
cutions, by  no  means  becoming  such  as  "  profess  and  call  them- 
selves Christians."  The  Arians  flourished,  at  one  period,  in  the 
sunshine  of  imperial  favor,  and  were  involved,  at  another,  in  dis- 
grace and  calamity.  But  theii-  internal  dissensions  hastened  theii- 
decline.  The  faith  established  at  Nice  prevailed  at  length,  and 
"  the  consubstantiahty  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,"  says  a  modern 
historian,*  "has  been  unanimously  received  as  a  fundamental 
article  of  the  Christian  faith,  by  the  consent  of  the  Greek,  the 
Latin,  the  Oriental,  and  the  Protestant  Churches." 

*  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  III.  p.  334. 


DOCUMENTS 


RELATING  TO  THE  PRECEDING  NARRATIVE. 


In  the  translation  of  the  Letters,  which  are  found  in  Socrates,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  of  Arius  and  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  which  are  recorded  by 
Theodoret,  the  edition  of  Valesius,  by  Reading,  Cambridge,  1720,  has  been  used, 


Letter  of  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria. 

To  our  beloved,  and  most  honored  colleagues,  in  all  places,  in 
the  ministry  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Alexander,  greeting  in  the 
Lord. 

As  the  body  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  one,  and  as  it  is  com- 
manded in  the  divine  scriptures  that  we  should  preserve  the  ])ond 
of  peace  and  concord,  it  is  proper  that  we  should  write  and  signify 
to  one  another,  what  happens  to  any  of  us ;  so  that  if  one  mem- 
ber suffer  or  rejoice,  the  others  may  sympathize  or  rejoice  with 
him.  In  our  jurisdiction,  then,  there  have  lately  appeared  ini-» 
quitous  men,  and  enemies  of  Christ,  teaching  an  apostacy  which 
might  be  justly  thought  and  called  a  forerunner  of  Antichrist.  I 
had  intended  to  Ijury  this  matter  in  silence,  that  the  evil,  being 
confined  to  the  apostates  themselves,  might  haply  die  away ;  and 
that  it  might  not,  by  passing  into  other  places,  pollute  the  ears  of 
some  of  the.  more  simple.  But  since  Eusebius,  who  is  now  of 
Nicomedia.  imagining  that  the  affairs  of  the  Church  depend  upon 
his  direction,  (because,  leaving  the  Church  of  Berytus,  he  coveted 


4 


32  COUNCIJ.  OF  NICE. 

and  obtained,  with  impunity,  that  of  Nicomedia,)  has  undertaken 
to  protect  these  apostates,  and  to  write  letters  in  their  favor  to 
every  quarter,,  that  he  may  draw  ignorant  men  into  this  worst  of 
heresies,  and  most  inimical  to  Christ ;  I  thought  it  was  necessary, 
knowing  what  is  written  in  the  law,  that  I  should  no  longer  for- 
bear, but  inform  you  all,  that  you  may  know  who  these  apostates 
are,  and  the  unfortunate  language  in  which  their  error  is  express- 
ed ;  and  that  in  case  Eusebius  should  have  written  to  you,  you 
may  pay  no  regard  to  him.  Willing  now  to  renew  through  them 
his  ancient  malignity,  which  time  seemed  to  have  obhterated,  he 
pretends  that  he  writes  letters  for  their  sake.  He  shows,  however, 
]jy  his  conduct,  that  he  does  this  for  the  furtherance  of  his  own 
interests.  The  names,  then,  of  those  who  have  become  apostates 
are  these :  Arius,  Achillas,  Carpones,  Aithales,  another  Arius, 
Sarmates,  Euzoius,  Lucius,  Julianus,  Menas,  Helladius  and 
Gaius ;  and  with  these,  Secundus  and  Theonas,  who  were  for- 
merly denommated  bishops.  What  they  advance  in  opposition 
to  scripture  is  this, — God  was  not  alwa5^s  a  Father,  but  there  was 
a  time  when  he.was  not  a  Father.  The  Word  of  God  was  not 
always,  but  originated  from  nothing ;  for  God.  who  exists,  created 
him,  who  was  not,  from  that  which  did  not  exist.  Therefore 
there  was  a  time  when  he  was  not.  For  the  Son  is  a  creature, 
and  was  made.  Nor  is  he  like  the  Father  with  respect  to  his 
essence.  Neither  is  he  by  nature  the  true  Word  of  God,  nor  his 
true  ^\^sdom,  but  he  is  one  of  his  works  and  creatures,  and  is  im- 
properly termed  the  v/ord  and  wisdom,  since  he  himself  existed 
by  the  proper  Word  of  God,  and  by  the  wisdom  which  is  in  God ; 
by  which,  as  he  created  all  things,  he  made  the  Son.  There- 
fore, by  his  nature,  he  is  exposed  to  change  and  alteration,  in  Uke 
manner  as  other  rational  beings.  The  Word  is  foreign  and  sepa- 
rate from  the  substance  of  God,  and  the  Father  cannot  be  de- 
clared by  the  Son,  and  is  invisible  to  him.  Neither  does  the  Son 
know  the  Father  perfectly  and  accurately,  neither  can  he  see 
him  perfectly.  Nor  does  the  Son  know  what  the  nature  of  his 
own  substance  is.  He  was  made  on  our  account,  that  God 
might  create  us  through  him,  as  his  instrument ;  nor  would  he 
ever  have  existed,  unless  God  had  determined  to  create  us.     And 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  33 

when  they  were  asked  whether  the  Word  of  God  could  be 
changed,  as  the  devil  is  changed,  they  were  not  afraid  to  reply, 
Yes,  he  can,  since  he  is  mutable  by  his  nature,  being  begotten 
and  created.  Such  declarations  having  been  made  by  Arius  with 
unblushing  effrontery,  we,  with  the  bishops  in  Egypt  and  Lybia, 
having  met  together,  in  number  nearly  a  hundred,  have  excom- 
municated him  and  his  followers.  But  Eusebius  has  received 
them,  endeavoring  to  mix  falsehood  with  truth,  and  ungodhness 
with  piety.  He  will  not,  however,  prevail.  The  truth  is  vic- 
torious. Light  has  no  fellowship  with  darkness,  nor  has  Christ 
any  agreement  with  Belial.  For,  wlio  ever  heard  such  things  7 
or  who,  now  hearing  them,  is  not  struck  with  amazement,  and 
does  not  stop  his  ears,  that  the  pollution  of  such  expressions  may 
not  penetrate  into  them?  Who,  when  he  hears  John  saying 
"  in  the  beginning  was  the  Word,"  will  not  condemn  those  who 
assert  that  there  was  a  time  when  he  was  not  ?  Or  who,  hear- 
ing in  the  gospel  the  words  "  only  begotten  Son,"  and  "  by  him 
all  things  were  made,"  will  not  abhor  those,  who  affirm  that  he 
is  one  of  the  creatures  ?  How  indeed  can  he  be  one*  of  those 
who  were  made  by  him  ?  or  how  can  he  be  the  only  begotten, 
who,  according  to  their  opinion,  is  to  be  included  in  the  number 
of  creatures?  How  can  he  be  made  from  nothing,  when  the 
Father  says,  "  My  heart  hath  sent  forth  a  good  Word,"  and  in 
another  place,  "  I  have  begotten  thee  from  the  womb,  before  the 
morning,"  or  how  is  he  unlike  the  substance  of  the  Father,  who 
is  the  perfect  image  and  splendor  of  the  Father,  and  who  says, — ■ 
"  He  that  hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father."  But  if  the  Son 
be  the  reason  and  wisdom  of  the  Father,  how  could  there  have 
been  a  tune  when  he  was  not  ?  For  it  is  the  same  as  if  they 
should  say,  that  God  was  once  without  his  Word  and  wisdom. 
How  can  he  be  subject  to  change  and  variation,  when  he  says, 
of  himself,  "  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me,"  and  "  I 
and   my  Father  are  one  ?"     He  declared  also  by  the  prophet, 

•  The  expression  in  Socrates,  is  laog  eivai  tuv  6t  avrov  yevo/ievuv,  the  equal  of 
those  things  which  were  made  by  him.  But  the  reading  of  the  manuscript  of 
Leo  Allatius,  etf  etvai  tuv  61  avrov  yevo/ievuv,  preferred  by  Valesius,  is  followed  by 
the  translator. 

3 


34  COUNCIL  OF  NICE, 

"  Behold  I  am,  and  change  not."     And  although  it  might  be 
said  that  this  declaration  refers  to  the  Father  himself,  it  may  in 
this  instance  be  more  properly  understood  of  the  Son,  because 
when  he  became  man  he  was  not  changed;  but,  as  the  Apostle 
says,  "yesterday,  and  to-day,  is  the  same,  and  forever."     And 
what  could  have  persuaded  them  to  say  that  he  was  made  on 
our  account,  when  Paul  says,  "  for  wliom,  and  by  whom,  are  all 
things  ?"     But  as  for  their  blasphemy,  that  the  Father  is  not  per- 
fectly knowri  by  the  Son,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.     For  when 
once  they  had  resolved  to  proclaim  war  against  Christ,  they  de- 
spise even  the  words  of  our  Lord  himself,  who  says,  "  As  the 
Father  knov/eth  me,  even  so  know  I  the  Father."     If,  therefore, 
the  Father  knows  the  Son  in  part  only,  it  is  evident  that  the  Son 
also  knows  in  part  the  Father.     But  if  it  be  nefarious  to  say  this, 
and  if  the  Father  perfectly  knov.^s  the  Son,  it  is  clear,  that  in  hke 
manner  as  the  Father  knows  his  Word,  the  Son  knows  his  Fa- 
ther, whose  Word  he  is.     By  these  remarks,  and  by  explaining 
the  sacred  scriptures,  we  often  gained  the  advantage  over  them. 
But,  chameleon-hke,  they  again  changed  their  ground,  taking 
pains  to  bring  upon  themselves  the  application  of  what  is  writ- 
ten,— "  When  the  ungodly  man  cometh  into  the  depths  of  wick- 
edness, he  despiseth."     Many  heresies,  indeed,  have  existed  be- 
fore their  time,  which  have  proceeded  with  licentious  daring  to 
great  extravagance.     But  they,  having  endeavored  in  all  their 
discourses  to  subvert  the  divinity  of  the  Word,  have  justified,  in  a 
manner,  these  heresies,  so  far  as  it  was  in  their  power,  by  their 
own  nearer  approach  to  Antichrist.     For  this  reason  they  have 
been  publicly  expelled  from  the  Church,  and  condemned  by  an 
anathema.     We  are  giieved,  indeed,  at  the  ruin  of  these  men ; 
the  more  so,  that  having  once  been  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church,  they  have  now  departed  from  it.     We  are  not,  how- 
ever, greatly  surprised.      The  same  thing  happened  to  Hyme- 
njEus  and  Philetus,  and  before  them  to  Judas,  who,  having  been 
a  follower  of  the  Saviour,  afterwards  l^etrayed  and  deserted  him. 
And  even  with  respect  to  these  persons  themselves,  we  were  not 
without  warning,  for  our  Lord  himself  had  said,  '-Beware  lest 
any  one  deceive  you ;  for  many  will  come  in  my  name,  saying, 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  85 

I  am,  and  the  time  is  at  hand  ;  and  shall  lead  many  into  error. 
Go  not  after  them,"  And  St.  Paul,  who  had  learnt  these  things 
from  our  Saviour,  writes,  that  "  in  the  last  days,  some  shall  de- 
part from  sound  doctrine,  giving  heed  to  spirits  of  error,  and  to 
doctrines  of  demons,  turning  from  the  truth."  Since,  therefore, 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  hath  hunself  declared,  and 
hath  signified  by  the  apostle,  concernhig  such  persons,  we  having 
heard  theii-  mipietj'^  with  our  own  ears,  have  justly  anathema- 
tized such  men,  as  we  have  already  said,  and  declared  them  to 
be  aliens  from  the  Catholic  Church  and  faith.  We  have  made 
this  known  to  your  piety,  beloved  and  most  respected  fellow- 
laborers,  that  you  may  neither  receive  any  of  them,  should  they 
have  the  presumption  to  visit  you,  nor  give  any  credit  to  what 
Eusebius  or  any  other  person  may  wnite  respecting  them.  For 
we,  who  claim  to  be  Christians,  should  turn  away  from  all  those 
who  speak  and  think  against  Christ,  as  enemies  of  God,  and  cor- 
rupters of  souls  ;  and  not  even  salute  such  men,  lest  by  any 
means  we  should  become  partakers  of  their  sins,  as  is  com- 
manded by  the  blessed  John.  Salute  the  brethren  who  are  with 
you.     Those  who  are  with  us  salute  you 


B. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Constantine  to  Alexander  and  Arius. 

The  whole  of  this  letter  is  given  in  Eusebius's  life  of  Constantine,  but  that 
portion  of  it  only  which  is  found  in  Socrates  is  inserted  here,  the  preceding  part 
being  considered  less  important  in  relation  to  the  subject  in 


The  Conqueror  Constantine,  the  greatest,  august,  to  Alexander 
and  Arius. 

*  *  *  I  understand  this  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  present 
controversy,  that  you,  Alexander,  required  of  your  presbyters 
what  they  respectively  thought  of  a  certain  passage  of  the  law,  or 


36  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

rather  questioned  them  in  regard  to  a  point  of  useless  debate ; 
and  that  you,  Arius,  advanced  that  which  should  either  not  have 
entered  into  your  mind  at  first,  or  after  having  gained  admission, 
should  have  been  locked  up  in  silence  ;  and  that  dissensions  ari- 
sing among  you  in  consequence,  communion  has  been  refused, 
and  the  most  holy  people,  rent  into  two  factions,  have  departed 
from  the  harmonious  union  of  the  common  body.  Therefore,  let 
each  of  you,  mutually  pardoriing  the  other,  embrace  what  your 
fellow-servant  most  reasonably  advises.  But  what  is  this?  It 
was  improper  at  first  that  questions  should  be  asked  on  subjects 
of  this  kind,  and  then  for  the  person  interrogated  to  reply.  Ques- 
tions of  this  nature,  which  no  law  compels  us  to  discuss,  but 
which  are  suggested  by  a  fondness  for  disputation  in  an  hour  of 
unprofitable  leisure,  may  indeed  be  permitted  as  an  exercise  of  the 
intellectual  faculties.  We  ought  however,  to  confine  them  with- 
in our  own  bosoms,  not  readily  iDringing  them  fom^ard  at  public 
meetings,  nor  rashly  confiding  them  to  the  ears  of  every  one. 
For  how  eminently  gifted  must  be  the  man,  who  can  accurately 
understand  the  true  nature  of  such  great  and  difficult  matters,  or 
explain  them  in  a  n:ianner  worthy  of  their  importance  ?  But  if 
any  one  should  be  supposed  capable  of  performing  this  with  ease, 
what  portion  of  the  common  people  would  he  be  likely  to  con- 
vince ?  or  who,  in  the  subtle  management  of  such  questions,  could 
avoid  the  danger  of  falling  into  serious  mistakes  ?  In  matters  of 
this  description,  therefore,  one  should  restrain  a  talkative  disposi- 
tion, lest,  either  through  the  weakness  of  his  understanding,  he 
should  fail  to  explain  what  is  proposed ;  or  his  hearers,  being  un- 
able, from  slowness  of  perception,  to  comprehend  what  is  said, 
should  necessarily  fall  into  blasphemy  or  schism.  Let,  therefore, 
an  unguarded  question  and  an  inconsiderate  reply  be  set  against 
each  other,  and  mutually  overlooked.  This  contention  has  not 
arisen  respecting  any  important  command  of  the  law,  nor  has 
any  new  opinion  been  introduced  with  regard  to  the  worship  of 
God ;  but  you  l)oth  entertain  the  same  sentiments,  so  that  you 
may  join  in  one  communion.  It  is  thought  to  be  not  only  in- 
decorous, but  altogether  unlawful,  that  so  numerous  a  people  of 
God  should  be  governed  and  directed  at  your  pleasure,  wliile  you 


COUNCIL  01*^  NICE.  37 

are  thus  emulously  contending  with  each  other,  and  quarrelhng 
about  small  and  very  trifling  matters,*  You  know,  if  I  may  ad- 
monish your  prudence  by  a  Uttle  example,  that  even  the  philoso- 
phers themseh^es,  although  associated  in  one  sect  or  profession, 
were  frequently  at  variance  on  particular  points.  But  although 
they  differ,  in  consequence  even  of  the  excellence  of  their  know- 
ledge,t  they  again  unite,  on  account  of  their  fellowship,  in  the 
same  general  purpose.  How  much  more  reasonable  is  it,  then, 
that  you,  who  are  ministers  of  the  Most  High  God,  should  be 
likewise  unanimous  in  the  profession  of  tlie  same  religion.  But 
let  us  examine  with  more  accuracy  and  attention  what  has  jjeen 
said ;  let  us  ask,  whether  it  be  just  and  reasonable,  on  account  of 
petty  and  idle  disputes  among  you  about  words,  that  brother 
should  be  arrayed  against  brother,  and  that  the  venerable  assem- 
bly, through  your  quarrels  respecting  things  of  so  little  impor- 
tance, and  by  no  means  necessary,  should  be  mutually  estranged 
by  an  unholy  contention.  Such  contentions  arc  low  and  vulgar, 
and  better  suited  to  the  ignorance  of  children,  than  bcconiing  the 
gravity  and  wisdom  of  priests  and  discerning  men.  Let  us  ^'olun- 
tarily  depart  from  the  temptations  of  Satan.  Our  great  God,  the 
Saviour  of  all,  has  vouchsafed  to  every  one  a  common  light. 
Permit  me,  his  servant,  I  beseech  you,  to  terminate  this  affair,  by 
the  aid  of  his  providence,  that  you,  his  people,  may  be  recalled  to 
unity  in  your  pubhc  assemblies  l^y  my  exhortations,  my  labors, 
and  the  urgency  of  my  admonitions.     For,  as  I  have  already  re- 

*  This  passage  is  tlius  written  in  the  manuscript  of  Loo  Allatius,  roaovrov  tov 
•&eov  J.aov  'ov  vno  racgv/zeTepaic  evxaic  xat  (jipeaiv  sv&vveia&ai  TrpoarjiCEi,  Sixovoeiv 
ovTE  npenov,  &c.  Epiphanius  Scolasticus,  it  appears,  followod  the  same  mad. 
ing,  as  he  thus  translates  the  words.  "  Tantum  Dei  popuhim,  qii.jra  vestris 
orationibus  et  prudentia  convenit  gubernari,  discordaro  nsc  ducet,  nee  oinnino 
fas  ess3,  credibilo  est."  It  is  believed  to  bj  unbecoming  and  uttorly  unlawful, 
that  so  numerous  a  people  of  GoJ,  who  ought  to  bo  governed  by  your  pnycrs 
and  prudence,  should  be  at  variance.     See  Valesius,  annotationos  in  Socratom. 

t  Tiio  original  expression  in  this  passngo,  el  6e  ri)  ttj^  EmaTrjiirjg  apsTri,  is 
rather  obscure.  The  translation  of  Valesius,  "  in  ipsa  scientiae  perfoctione,"  is 
followed  by  Shorting,  who  ronders  it,  *' in  the  very  perfection  of  knowledge."' 
Musculus,  in  his  version,  gives  "in  virtute  scientiae,"  and  Grinfflus,  "disciplinaj 
tausd." 

4 


58  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

marked,  you  have  one  and  the  same  faith,  and  one  opinion  con- 
cerning our  religion ;  and  as  the  requisition  of  the  law,  in  its  va- 
rious parts,  urges  all  to  an  agreement  of  sentiment,  the  topic 
which  has  excited  animosity  and  division  among  you,  since  it  be- 
longs not  to  the  essence  and  life  of  religion  in  general,  should  by 
no  means  produce  discord  and  sedition  among  you.  And  I  say 
not  these  things  by  any  means  to  oblige  you  to  be  of  the  same 
opinion,  with  regard  to  this  very  foohsh  controversy,  or  by  v/hat- 
ever  other  term  it  may  be  denominated.  For  the  honor  and 
character  of  the  assembly  of  Christians  may  be  preserved  entire, 
and  the  same  communion  retained  among  you  all,  notwithstand- 
ing you  may  greatly  differ  among  yourselves  in  matters  of  very 
little  importance,  since  all  men  have  not  the  same  understanding 
of  every  thing,  the  same  turn  of  mind,  or  mode  of  thinking.  Let 
there  be,  therefore,  among  you  but  one  faith  and  mind  concern- 
ing the  providence  of  God,  and  one  worship  and  service  of  the 
Deity.  But  5^our  subtle  disputes  and  inquiries  respecting  these 
most  trifling  matters,  if  you  cannot  agree  in  sentiment,  should 
remain  in  your  own  thoughts,  and  be  laid  up  in  the  secret  depths 
of  the  mind.  Let  your  mutual  friendship  rem.ain  unsliaken : 
and  be  firm  in  your  behef  of  the  truth,  and  your  obedience  to 
God  and  his  law.  Return  to  mutual  love  and  charity.  Restore 
to  the  whole  people  their  accustomed  harmony.  Purify  your  own 
hearts,  and  renew  your  former  acquaintance  and  familiarity. 
It  often  happens  that  friendship  is  more  pleasant  when  enmity  is 
followed  by  reconciliation.  Enable  me  again  to  enjoy  quiet  days, 
and  nights  undisturbed  by  sohcitude,  that  in  future  the  pleasure 
of  the  pure  hght,  and  the  happiness  of  a  tranquil  Hfe  may  be  re- 
served for  me.  Otherwise,  I  cannot  but  sigh  and  lam.ent,  and 
be  dissolved  in  tears ;  nor  can  I  pass  without  great  disquietude 
the  remainder  of  my  days.  For  how  can  I  look  for  repose,  while 
the  people  of  God,  who  serve  the  same  Master  as  myself,  are  torn 
asunder  by  an  iniquitous  and  fatal  contention  ?  That  you  may 
comprehend  the  excess  of  my  grief  on  account  of  this  affair,  I  ask 
3'^our  attention  to  what  I  am  going  to  say.  Arriving  lately  at 
Nicomedia,  I  had  determined  to  proceed  immediately  to  the  East. 
When  I  was  hastening  towards  you,  and  had  already  performed 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  39 

the  greater  part  of  my  journey,  the  news  of  your  differences 
changed  my  resoUition,  lest  I  should  be  compelled  to  beliold  that 
with  my  eyes,  of  which  I  thought  I  could  hardly  bear  the  recital. 
Open  therefore  to  me,  by  your  agi-eement,  a  way  into  the  East, 
which  has  been  closed  against  me  l)y  your  contentions.  Permit 
me,  as  speedily  as  possible,  to  beliold  you  and  all  others  of  the 
people  happy  and  rejoicing,  a)id  to  render,  witli  you,  due  thanks 
to  God  for  the  common  agreement  and  hberty  of  all. 


Letter  of  Arhis  to  Eiisehius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia. 

To  the  most  esteemed  Lord,  a  faithful  man  of  God,  the  ortho- 
dox Eusebius,  Arius,  unjustly  persecuted  by  Pope*  Alexander  for 
the  sake  of  tRith,  which  overcomes  all  things,  and  which  you  also 
defend,  greeting  in  the  Lord. 

iNIy  father  Ammonius  being  aljout  to  visit  Nicomedia,  I  thought 
it  my  dut)^  to  salute  you  by  him  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  make 
Imown  to  you,  as  being  naturally  charitable  and  affectionate  in 
your  disposition  towards  the  brethren,  for  the  love  of  God  and  of 
his  Christ,  that  we  are  vehemently  opposed  and  persecuted,  and 
every  engine  is  set  in  motion  against  us  by  the  bishop ;  so  that 
he  has  even  expelled  us  from  the  city  as  atheists,  because  we  do 
not  assent  to  such  declarations  as  follow,  pubUcly  uttered  by  him. 
God  is  always,  the  Son  is  always.  The  Father  and  the  Son  are 
co-existent.  The  Son,  unbegotten,  co-exists  with  God,  and  is 
always  begotten :  without  being  begotten,  he  is  begotten  :t  nor 

•  In  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church,  the  title  of  Pope,  or  father,  was  the  com. 
mon  appellation  of  the  bishops.  But  when  the  bishop  of  Rome  afterwards  usurp- 
ed a  spiritual  supremacy  over  his  brethren,  this  title,  and  some  others,  once 
bestowed  indiscriminately  on  prelates,  as  such,  being  exclusively  appropriated  to 
him,  acquired,  of  course,  an  additional  emphasis. 

t  There  appears  to  have  been  some  confusion  of  ideas  in  the  mind  of  the 


40  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

does  God  precede  the  Son  in  thouglit,  nor  by  a  single  moment. 
Always  God,  always  the  Son.  From  God  himself  the  Son  exists. 
Because  Eusebius,  your  brother,  bishop  of  Cesarea,  and  Theodo- 
tus  and  Paulinus,  Athanasius,  Gregorius  and  Aetius,  and  all  the 
bishops  of  the  East,  affirm,  that  God,  who  is  wnthout  a  begin- 
ning, existed  before  the  Son,  they  have  been  condemned,  with 
the  exception  only  of  Philogonius,  Hellanicus  and  Macarius,  here- 
tical men,  and  uninstructed  in  the  faith ;  who  say,  one,  that  the 
Son  is  an  effusion ;  another,  that  he  is  a  projection  ;  and  another, 
that,  like  the  Father,  he  is  unbegotten.  We  could  not  listen,  in- 
deed, to  such  impieties,  although  the  heretics  should  threaten  us 
with  a  thousand  deaths.  But  what  we  ourselves  say  and  thinkj 
we  have  already  declared,  and  now  declare,  that  the  Son  is  not 
unbegotten,  nor  in  any  manner  a  part  of  the  unbegotten,  or  of  any 
matter  subject  to  him ;  but  in  will  and  design  he  existed  before 
all  times  and  ages,  perfect  God,  the  only  begotten,  unchangeable ; 
and  that  he  existed  not,  before  he  was  begotten,  or  created,  or  de- 
termined, or  established,  for  he  was  not  unbegotten.  We  are  per- 
secuted, because  we  have  said  that  the  Son  has  a  beginning. 
But  God  is  without  a  beginning.  On  this  account  we  are  perse- 
cuted, and  because  we  said  that  he  is  of  things  not  existing. 
Thus  we  have  said,  because  he  is  not  a  part  of  God,  nor  of  any 
subjected  matter.  On  this  account  we  are  persecuted.  You 
know  the  rest.  I  hope  that  you  are  in  health  in  the  Lord,  and 
that  you  remember  our  troubles,  thou  true  disciple  of  Lucian,  and 
truly  pious  man,  as  your  name  imports. 

bishop,  if  his  words  are  correctly  reported  by  Arius.  It  is  probable  that  this  pais- 
sage  is  intended  to  express  what  is  called  the  "  eternal  generation"  of  the  Son,  a 
phrase,  however,  which,  itself,  may  not  be  considered  as  remarkably  perspicuous. 
Possibly  the  original  may,  to  some  readers,  be  more  clear  than  the  translation. 
It  is  therefore  added.  crvvvTtapxsi  ayevvTjTug  'o  vLog  ra  ■&eu),  aeiyevvTig  eariv, 
ayevvT/Toyevrig  egriv. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  « 


D. 


Letter  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  to  PaulinuSj 
Bishop  of  Tyre. 

To  my  Lord  Paulinus,  Eusebius  greeting  in  the  Lord. 

The  zeal  of  my  Lord  Eusebius  for  tlie  truth  has  not  been  con- 
cealed, but  has  reached  even  to  us,  nor  has  your  silence,  my  Lord, 
on  the  same  subject,  been  unnoticed.  We  naturally  rejoiced  on 
account  of  my  Lord  Eusebius,  but  were  grieved  much  by  your 
reserve,  considering  the  silence  of  so  eminent  a  man  as  our  own 
defeat.  Wherefore,  I  exhort  you,  knowing  as  you  do,  how  unbe- 
coming it  is  in  a  wise  man  to  think  differently  from  others, 
and  yet  to  suppress  the  truth,  to  exert  your  mental  faculties,  and 
commence  writing  on  this  subject,  which  would  be  useful  both  to 
yourself  and  your  hearers,  especially  if  you  follow  in  the  footsteps 
of  scripture,  and  endeavor  to  write  according  to  its  words  and 
meaning.  We  have  never  heard,  my  Lord,  of  two  beings  unbe- 
gotten,  nor  of  one  divided  into  tv/o ;  nor  have  we  learnt  or  be- 
heved  that  he  could  suffer  any  thing  corporeal,  but  that  there  is 
one  unbegotten,  and  another  truly  from  him,  and  not  made  of  his 
substance,  by  no  means  partaking  of  his  nature,  nor  being  of  his 
substance,  but  altogether  differing  in  nature  and  in  power,  yet 
made  in  the  perfect  likeness  of  the  nature  and  power  of  his  Crea- 
tor. We  believe  not  only  that  his  origin  cannot  be  explained  in 
words,  but  that  it  cannot  be  comprehended,  we  will  not  say  by 
the  understanding  of  man'  only,  but  by  that  of  any  beings  supe- 
rior to  man.  And  we  say  this,  not  from  our  own  reasonings,  but 
instructed  by  the  scriptures.  That  he  is  created  and  established, 
and  begotten  in  the  substance,  {yEWTirov  rj?  ovata^)  in  an  immutable 
and  inexplicable  nature,  and  in  the  resemblance  which  he  bears 
to  his  Maker,  we  learn  from  the  very  words  of  the  Lord,  who 
says — "  God  created  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  ways,  and  form- 
ed me  before  the  world,  and  begat  me  before  all  the  hills."     If 


42  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

then  he  was  from  him,  that  is,  of  him,  as  it  were  a  part  of  him, 
or  an  emanation  of  the  substance,  he  could  not  then  be  said  to 
have  been  created  or  estabhshed.  Nor  can  you  indeed,  my  Lord, 
be  ignorant  of  this.  For  that- which  is  from  an  unbegotten  being 
cannot  be  created  nor  founded  by  another  or  by  the  same,  being 
from  the  beginning  unbegotten.  But  if,  because  he  is  said  to  be 
begotten,  it  seems  to  be  intimated,  that  he  is  derived  from  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Father,  and  has  therefore  a  sameness  of  nature,  we 
know  that  the  scripture  does  not  say  that  he  alone  was  begotten, 
but  also  other  things  which  differ  altogether  from  him  in  their 
nature.  For  it  also  says  concerning  men,  "  I  have  begotten  sons 
and  exalted  them ;  but  they  have  despised  me,"  and,  '•  thou  hast 
forsaken  God  who  begat  thee."  And  of  other  creatures  it  says, 
"  who  is  he  that  hath  begotten  the  drops  of  dew  ?"  This  is  not 
saying,  that  the  nature  of  the  dew  is  divine,  but  that  all  things 
which  are  made,  proceed  from  the  will  of  God.  For  nothing 
exists  of  his  substance ;  but  all  things  being  made  according  to 
his  pleasure,  every  thing  exists  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
made.  For  he  is  God,  but  those  things  which  resemble  him,  are 
made  so  by  the  Word,  according  to  his  will,  since  all  things  are 
of  God.  And  all  things  which  are  by  him,  are  made  by  the 
Deity,  for  all  things  are  of  God.  When  you  shall  have  read  this 
letter,  and  have  polished  it  according  to  the  grace  which  you  have 
received  of  God,  write  as  soon  as  possible  to  my  Lord  Alexander. 
If  you  will  take  this  trouble,  I  doubt  not  you  will  persuade  him. 
Salute  aU  the  brethren  in  the  Lord.  May  the  divine  favor  pre- 
serve yom-  health,  and  enable  you  to  pray  for  us. 


B. 

Letter  of  Eusehiiis  Pamphilus  to  the  Church  of  Cesarea. 

It  is  probable,  beloved,  that  you  have  already  learnt  from  an- 
other source,  what  has  been  done  respecting  the  ecclesiastical 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  48 

faith  in  the  great  Council  convened  at  Nice,  as  common  fame 
usually  outruns  an  accurate  report  of  facts.  But  as  a  rumor  of 
this  kind  may  have  represented  things  dilTerently  from  what  they 
actually  were,  we  have  thought  it  necessary  to  send  you,  first,  the 
form  of  faith  proposed  by  us,  and  afterwards  that  w^hich  was  set 
forth  by  the  bishops,  who  made  some  additions  to  ours.  Our  own 
form,  then,  which  was  read  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  and 
appeared  to  be  right  and  proper,  is  expressed  in  these  terms.  As 
we  have  received  from  the  bishops  who  preceded  us, — as  we  have 
been  taught  in  the  rudimental  instnictions  of  our  childhood,  and 
when  we  were  subjects  of  the  baptismal  rite,  and  as  we  have 
learnt  from  the  divine  scriptures ;  as  we  have  beUeved  and  taught, 
both  in  the  order  of  presbyter,  and  the  episcopal  dignity  itself,  and 
as  we  now  beheve,  we  present  to  you  our  profession  of  faith.  And 
it  is  this.  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible ;  and  in  one  liord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Word  of  God,  God  of  God,  hght  of  hglit,  life  of  life,  the  only 
begotten  Son,  the  first  born  of  every  creature,  begotten  of  the  Fa- 
ther before  all  ages,  by  whom  all  things  were  made ;  vAio  for  our 
salvation  was  made  flesh  and  conversed  among  men ;  who  suf- 
fered, and  rose  again  the  third  day,  and  ascended  to  the  Father, 
and  will  come  again  with  glory  to  judge  the  hving  and  the  dead. 
We  also  beheve  in  one  Holy  Spirit ;  believing  every  one  of  these 
to  be  and  subsist,  the  Father  truly  the  Father,  the  Son  truly  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  truly  the  Holy  Spirit ;  as  our  Lord, 
when  he  sent  his  disciples  to  preach,  said,  "  Go,  and  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost."  We  solemnly  affirm  that  we  thus  hold 
and  thus  think,  and  have  so  held  formerly,  and  will  hold  even 
unto  death,  and  will  always  continue  in  this  faith,  anathematiz- 
ing every  impious  heresy.  We  testify  before  Almighty  God  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  have  believed  this  sincerely,  and 
from  the  heart,  from  the  time  that  we  were  capable  of  knowing 
ourselves,  and  now  also  truly  think  and  speak,  being  prepared  to 
show  by  sufficient  proofs,  and  to  convince  your  minds,  that  we 
have  so  beheved  in  times  past,  and  have  preached  accordingly. 
Having  made  this  representation  of  our  faith,  there  was  no  pre- 


44  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

tence  for  contradiction.  But  our  pious  emperor  himself  was  the 
fii'st  to  declare,  that  it  was  extremely  well  conceived,  and  that  it 
expressed  his  own  sentiments,  exhorting  all  to  assent  to,  and  sign 
it,  that  they  might  unite  in  its  doctrines,  with  the  addition  only 
of  the  single  word  consubstantial ;  which  he  himself  explained 
by  asserting  that  he  did  not  use  the  term  with  reference  to  corpo- 
real affections,  and  that  the  Son  did  not  subsist  from  the  Father, 
either  by  division  or  abscission,  since  it  was  impossible  that  an 
immaterial,  intellectual  and  incorporeal  nature  could  admit  of  any 
bodily  affection ;  but  that  it  must  be  understood  in  a  divine  and 
mysterious  manner.  It  was  thus  that  our  most  wise  and  religious 
emperor  argued  on  this  subject.  But  the  bishops,  taking  occa- 
sion from  the  word  consubstantial,  committed  to  writing  the  fol- 
lowing form : — 


THE  CREED.' 

We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  all 
things,  visible  and  invisible  ;  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  that  is,  of  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Father ;  God  of  God,  light  of  light,  true  God  of  true 
God ;  begotten,  not  made,  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made,  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth ;  who  for 
us  men,  and  for  our  salvation,  descended,  was  incarnate,  and  Avas 
made  man,  and  suffered,  and  rose  again  the  third  day  ;  he  ascend- 
ed into  heaven,  and  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead  : 
And  in  the  Hol}^  Spirit.  But  the  holy  catholic  and  apostolic 
Church  of  God  anathematizes  those  who  affirm  that  there  was  a 
time  when  the  Son  was  not,  or  that  he  was  not  before  he  was 
begotten,  or  that  he  was  made  of  things  not  existing ;  or  who  say, 
that  the  Son  of  God  was  of  any  other  substance  or  essence,  or 
created,  or  hable  to  change  or  conversion. 

When  this  form  was  dictated  by  the  prelates,  their  expressions 

*  The  Greeks  termed  the  symbol  of  faith  fiad-rjua,  because  the  catechumens 
learnt  it  by  heart.  Leontius  Bisantius,  in  his  work  concerning  sects,  calls  ths 
Symbol,  or  Creed  of  Nice,  to  fj.a'&rifia  ruv  ev  NiKaKji. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  45 

"  of  the  substance  of  the  Father,"  and  "  consubstantial  with  the 
Father,"  were  not  suffered  to  pass  without  examination.  Hence, 
therefore,  several  questions  arose,  and  answers  were  made,  and 
the  sense  of  these  terms  was  carefully  considered.  They  admit- 
ted that  the  words  "  of  the  substance"  signified  that  the  Son  was 
of  the  Father,  but  not  as  a  part  of  the  Father.  We  thought  it 
well  to  assent  to  this  explanation,  as  conveying  the  pious  doctrine, 
that  the  Son  was  of  the  Father ;  but  not,  however,  a  part  of  the  Fa- 
ther. We  therefore  agreed  to  this  opinion  ;  nor  did  we  reject  the 
word  consubstantial,  having  in  view  the  promotion  of  peace,  and 
being  anxious  to  avoid  a  departure  from  the  right  belief.  For  the 
same  reason,  we  approved  also  of  the  words  "  begotten,  not  made," 
since  the  word  made,  they  said,  was  common  to  the  other  crea- 
tures which  were  made  by  the  Son,  and  to  which  he  has  nothing 
similar ;  and  that  therefore  he  is  not  made  like  those  who  were 
created  l)y  himself,  but  is  of  a  more  excellent  substance  than  any 
created  being.  The  divine  oracles  inform  us,  that  he  was  of  the 
Father,  by  a  mode  of  generation,  which  can  neither  be  conceived 
nor  expressed  by  any  created  intelUgence. 

The  question  wdiether  the  Son  is  consubstantial  wuth  the  Fa- 
ther being  thus  examined,  it  was  agreed  that  this  was  not  to  be 
understood  according  to  the  manner  of  material  things,  nor  that 
of  mortal  beings,  since  it  could  be  neither  by  division,  nor  abscis- 
sion, nor  by  a  change  of  the  paternal  essence  and  power,  since 
the  unljegotten  nature  of  the  Father  is  foreign  from  all  these 
things.  But  by  the  expression  "  consubstantial  witli  the  Father" 
nothing  else  is  intended,  than  that  the  Son  of  God  has  no  simili- 
tude with  created  beings,  but  resembles  in  all  things  the  Father 
only,  by  whom  he  was  begotten,  and  that  he  is  of  no  other  sub- 
stance or  essence  than  that  of  the  Father.  The  proposition  being 
thus  explained,  we  thought  that  we  might  justly  accede  to  it ; 
since  we  knew  that  some  of  the  most  learned  and  distinguished 
of  the  ancient  bishops  and  writers  had  made  use  of  the  term  con- 
substantial, in  treating  of  the  divinity  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.* 

•  This  assertion  of  Euaebius,  who  must  have  had  access  to  many  ancient 
writings,  wiiich  are  now  lost,  sufficiently  shows,  that  the  word  ofioovaiog  was 


^  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

This  is  what  I  intended  to  say  concerning  the  faith  which  was 
declared,  and  to  which  we  all  gave  our  consent ;  not,  however, 
without  inquiry  and  examination,  but  according  to  the  senses  ad- 
duced, which  were  discussed  before  our  most  rehgious  emperor, 
and  for  the  reasons  already  mentioned,  unanimously  approved. 
We  also  agreed  without  difficulty  to  the  anathema  put  forth  by 
the  prelates,  and  subjoined  to  the  form  of  faith,  because  it  pro- 
hibits the  use  of  unscriptural  expressions,  from  which  nearly  all 
the  confusion  and  disturbances  of  the  Church  have  arisen.  Since, 
therefore,  no  divinely  inspired  writing  has  made  use  of  the 
phrases,  "  of  things  not  existing,"  and  "  there  was  a  time  when 
he  was  not,"  and  others  which  are  added  to  them,  it  did  not  seem 
proper  that  they  should  be  spoken  or  taught.  We  therefore  con- 
sented also  to  this  salutary  decree,  not  having  been  accustomed, 
in  times  past,  to  the  use  of  such  terms. 

We  have  sent  you  this  information,  beloved,  that  we  may 
clearly  show  you,  with  what  care  and  deUberation  we  conducted 
our  inquiries  and  examination,  and  gave  our  assent,  and  with 
how  much  reason  we  resisted  at  first,  and  continued  our  opposi- 
tion to  the  last  hour ;  so  long,  indeed,  as  any  thing  being  written 
otherwise  than  correctly,  afforded  occasion  of  offence.  We  finally 
embraced,  without  finther  contention,  those  expressions  which 
were  found  to  be  unexceptionable,  when,  on  a  candid  examina- 
tion of  the  sense  of  the  words,  it  appeared  that  they  entirely  agreed 
with  those  admitted  by  ourselves,  in  the  exposition  of  faith  which 
we  at  first  proposed. 

not  first  invented  by  the  Nicene  Fathers,  nor  originally  used  by  them,  as  many 
suppose,  in  discussing  the  subject  of  the  divinity  of  the  Son.  Tertullian,  in  the 
beginning  of  his  book  against  Praxeas,  expressly  says,  that  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  of  one  substance,  and  affirms  that  this  doctrine  is  con- 
tained in  the  rule  of  faith  preserved  by  the  Catholics.  But  wiierein  does  the 
Latin  phraseology,  unius  substanticB,  differ  from  the  Greek  expression,  o/ioovaiovl 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  4/ 


The    Synodical  Epistle. 

The  bishops  assembled  at  Nice,  constituting  the  great  and  holy 
Synod,  to  the  church  of  Alexandria,  by  the  grace  of  God  holy 
and  great,  and  to  the  beloved  brethren  in  Egypt,  Lybia,  and  Pen- 
tapolis,  greeting  in  the  Lord. 

•  Seeing  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  favor  of  Constantino, 
a  prince  greatly  beloved  by  him,  we  have  met  together  from  va- 
rious cities  and  provinces,  and  have  holden  a  great  and  sacred 
Council  at  Nice,  we  considered  it  highly  necessary  that  a  letter 
should  bo  sent  to  you  from  the  holy  Synod,  that  you  miglit  un- 
derstand what  things  were  proposed  and  examined,  and  what 
was  decided  and  established.  In  the  first  place,  then,  the  impiety 
and  iniqinty  of  Arius  and  his  associates  was  inquired  into,  in  the 
presence  of  our  most  religious  prince,  Constantine.  It  seemed 
good  to  all,  that  his  ungodly  opinion  should  be  anathematized, 
and  the  blasphemous  words  and  expressions  which  he  made  use 
of,  saying,  that  the  Son  of  God  was  from  nothing ;  that  there 
was  a  time  when  he  Avas  not ;  and  that  by  his  freedom  of  will  he 
was  capable  of  virtue  and  vice.  He  also  called  him  a  being 
created  and  made.  All  this  was  condemned  by  the  holy  Synod, 
who  could  not  patiently  listen  to  a  doctrine  so  impious  or  absurd, 
and  to  language  so  blasphemous.  You  have  already  been  made 
acquainted  with  the  result  of  the  proceedings  against  him,  or  will 
shortly  be  informed ;  and  we  would  not  seem  to  insult  a  man 
who  has  received  the  just  reward  of  his  own  error.  But  so  great 
was  the  influence  of  his  impiety,  that  it  involved  Theonas,  of 
Marmarica,  and  Secundus,  of  Ptolemais,  in  the  same  ruin  with 
himself,  for  they  shared  the  same  condemnation. 

But  after  the  grace  of  God  had  delivered  us  from  that  perni- 
cious opinion,"  from  impiety  and  blasphemy,  and  from  those  men 
who  had  the  presumption  to  excite  discord  and  divisions  among  a 
people  heretofore  at  peace,  the  rashness  and  petulance  of  Mele- 


48  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

tins,  and  of  those  who  had  been  ordained  by  him,  still  remained 
to  be  considered.  And  what  was  determined  by  the  Synod  with 
respect  to  these  persons,  we  proceed,  beloved,  to  make  known  to 
you.  It  seemed  advisable  to  the  council,  who  were  moved  by 
feelings  of  humanity  towards  Meletius,  although  in  strict  justice 
he  merited  no  indulgence,  that  he  should  remain  in  his  own  city, 
but  have  no  power  either  of  ordination,  or  of  designating  candi- 
dates for  orders,  and  should  not  appear  in  the  countrj'',  or  in  any 
other  city,  under  that  pretence ;  but  should  retain  the  name  only 
of  his  office.*  Those,  however,  who  were  admitted  by  him  to 
any  clerical  function,  after  being  confirmed  by  a  more  sacred  ordi- 
nation,t  were  to  be  received  into  communion  on  this  condition, 
that  althovigh  they  should  retain  their  honors  and  ministry,  they 
should  always  be  ranked  after  those,  who,  being  stationed  in  any 
parish  or  church,  had  been  previously  ordained  by  our  most  re- 
spected colleague,  Alexander.  They  are  not  allowed  to  propose 
for  ordination  such  as  they  may  think  suitable  persons,  or  to  sug- 
gest their  names ;  or,  indeed,  to  do  any  thing  without  the  consent 
of  some  bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Alexander.  Such,  however,  as,  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  aid 
of  your  prayers,  have  never  been  found  in  any  schism,  but  have 
remained  in  the  Cathohc  Chvuch  without  spot,  have  the  privilege 
of  voting,  and  of  proposing  the  names  of  such  as  may  be  worthy 
of  admission  into  the  clerical  order ;  and,  in  short,  of  performing 
whatever  may  be  agi'eeable  to  ecclesiastical  law"  and  sanction. 

*  It  seems  that  Meletius  had  undertaken  to  confer  orders  in  cases  which  did 
not  belong  to  him  ;  and  had,  moreover,  infringed  the  ancient  and  universally  re- 
ceived usage  in  regard  to  the  ordination  of  bishops.  For  it  was  the  custom, 
when  any  episcopal  seat  became  vacnnt,  for  the  bishops  of  the  province,  in  the 
presence  of  the  people,  to  elect  and  ordain  a  successor.  But  Meletius,  wherever 
he  happened  to  travel,  made  no  scruple  of  instituting  bishops,  priests  and  deacons 
on  his  own  authority.     See  Epiphanius,  do  heeres.  68. 

t  By  a  more  sacred  ordination,  the  synod  intended,  that  the  bishops  and  other 
clergy,  who  had  been  ordained  by  Meletius,  should  receive  imposition  of  hands 
from  Alexander.  As  they  had  been  ordained  without  his  consent,  it  was  espe- 
cially requisite  that  they  should  be  consecrated  by  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  ac 
cording  to  ancient  custom,  which  exacted  obedience  from  all  the  bishops  of  the 
Egyptian  diocese  to  Alexander,  as  their  spiritual  head. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  49 

But  if  any  of  those  who  are  in  the  Church  should  be  removed  by 
death,  the  office  of  the  deceased  is  to  be  conferred  on  such  as  have 
recently  been  admitted  to  orders ;  provided,  however,  that  they 
appear  to  be  worthy  of  the  promotion,  and  be  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple ;  whose  choice,  nevertheless,  must  be  approved  and  confirmed 
by  the  bishop  of  Alexandria.*  And  this  privilege  was  conceded 
to  all  the  others.  But  with  respect  to  IMeletius,  on  account  of  his 
former  irregular  conduct,  and  the  rashness  and  precipitancy  of 
his  temper,  it  was  other^nse  decreed ;  that  no  power  or  authority 
should  be  given  to  a  man,  who  might  be  able  to  renew  the  same 
troubles,  which  had  existed  before. 

These  are  the  transactions  relating  more  particularly  to  Egypt 
and  the  most  holy  church  of  the  Alexandrians.  And  if  any  thing 
further  was  resolved  or  determined,  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord, 
and  most  honored  associate  and  brother,  Alexander,  he  will  him 
self  the  more  accurately  relate  it  to  you,  from  having  been  a 
prominent  actor  and  sharer  in  what  was  performed. 

We  moreover  inform  you  of  our  imanimous  agreement  with 
regard  to  the  most  holy  season  of  Easter,  which  was  happily  ef- 
fected by  the  assistance  of  your  prayers ;  so  that  all  our  brethren 
in  the  East,  who  formerly  celebrated  the  passover  simultaneously 
with  the  Jews,  will  in  future  keep  that  festival  in  accordance  with 
the  Romans,  with  ourselves,  and  with  all  those,  who  from  the 
earliest  times  haye  observed  that  solemnity  with  us.  Rejoicing, 
therefore,  on  account  of  these  happy  regulations,  and  the  peace 
and  harmony  which  prevail,  and  also  that  every  heresy  is  cut  off, 
receive  with  the  greater  honor  and  warmer  affection,  our  col- 
league, and  your  bishop,  Alexander;  who  by  his  presence  has 


*  This  passage,  says  Valesius,  evidently  refers  to  the  bishops  who  were  ordain, 
ed  by  Mcletius,  as  well  as  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons.  For  if  it  only  contem- 
plates the  promotion  of  one  presbyter  to  the  vacant  place  of  another,  why  did  the 
Nicenc  Fathers  use  so  much  caution  ?  Why  did  they  make  so  many  and  such 
important  preliminary  requisitions  ?  Why  so  much  solicitude  in  regard  to  tho 
advancement  of  a  presbyter  merely  ?  Unquestionably,  the  words  of  the  council 
have  a  more  immediate  view  to  bishops  ;  in  the  election  of  whom,  the  suffrages 
of  the  people  were  necessary,  and  also  a  confirmation  of  their  choice  by  the 
bishop  .of  Alexandria,  as  the  metropolitan  of  all  Egypt. 

4 


60  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

afforded  us  great  satisfaction,  and  at  so  advanced  an  age  has  sup- 
ported such  arduous  labors  to  restore  peace  among  you.  Pray- 
also  for  us  all,  that  what  has  been  rightly  estabUshed,  may  firmly 
continue,  through  Almighty  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  whom  be  glory  forever,  amen. 


G. 

Letter  of  the  Emperor. 

Constantine,  august,  to  the  Cathohc  Church  of  Alexandria. 

All  hail,  beloved  brethren  !  We  have  received  a  signal  benefit 
from  the  divine  providence,  in  that,  being  freed  from  all  error,  we 
acknowledge  one  and  the  same  faith.  Henceforth  it  will  not  be 
in  the  power  of  the  devil  to  do  any  thing  against  us ;  for  all  his 
insidious  machinations  are  utterly  removed.  The  splendor  of 
truth,  at  the  command  of  God,  has  vanquished  those  dissensions, 
schisms,  and  tumults,  which  invaded  our  repose,  and,  if  I  may  so 
speak,  the  deadly  poisons  of  discord.  We  all,  therefore,  believe 
that  there  is  one  God,  and  worship  in  his  name. 

That  this  happy  state  of  things  might  be  brought  about,  I 
called  together  in  the  city  of  Nice  as  many  of  the  bishops  as  pos- 
sible, with  whom,  as  one  of  your  number,  and  rejoicing  exceed- 
ingly to  be  your  fellow-servant,  I  undertook  myself  to  examine 
into  the  truth.  Whatever,  therefore,  might  give  occasion  for  con- 
troversy and  dissension  was  accurately  considered  and  discussed. 
May  the  Divine  Majesty  pardon  the  many  and  grievous  expres- 
sions concerning  our  blessed  >Saviour,  and  our  hope  and  life, 
which  were  indecorously  and  blasphemously  uttered  by  some, 
who  declared  opinions  contrary  to  the  divine  scriptures,  and  our 
holy  faith,  and  professed  to  believe  them.  When,  therefore,  more 
than  three  hundred  bishops,  not  less  to  be  admired  for  their  mo- 
desty, than  for  their  talents  and  intelligence,  confirmed  one  and 
4* 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  51 

the  same  faith,  which  is  derived  from  the  truths  of  the  divine  law 
accurately  investigated,  Arius  alone,  who  first  sowed  this  evil 
among  you,  and  afterwards  among  others  also,  with  impious  de- 
sign, was  found  to  be  overcome  by  diabolical  art  and  influence. 
Let  us  receive,  therefore,  that  doctrine  which  was  delivered  by  the 
Almighty.  Let  us  return  to  our  beloved  brethren,  from  whom 
this  shameless  minister  of  satan  has  separated  us.  Let  us  return 
to  the  common  body  and  to  our  own  members,  with  all  diligence, 
since  it  is  due  to  your  prudence  and  understanding,  to  your  faith 
and  holiness,  that,  the  error  of  this  man,  who  is  evidently  an 
enemy  of  the  truth,  being  demonstrated,  you  return  to  divine 
grace.  For  what  was  approved  by  three  hundred  bishops  can 
only  be  considered  as  the  pleasure  of  God,  especially  as  the  Holy 
Spirit,  dwelUng  in  the  minds  of  so  many  and  such  worthy  men, 
has  clearly  shown  the  divine  will.  Wherefore,  let  no  one 
hesitate,  let  no  one  delay ;  but  let  all  return  with  alacrity  to  the 
path  of  truth,  that  when,  with  all  convenient  speed,  I  shall  visit 
you,  I  may  offer,  with  you,  due  thanks  to  the  Searcher  of  all 
hearts,  that  having  made  known  to  you  the  unadulterated  faith, 
he  has  restored  to  you  that  mutual  charity,  which  was  so  much 
to  be  desired. 

May  the  Divine  Being  watch  over  you,  my  beloved  brethren. 


H. 

Another  Letter  of  Constantine. 

Constantine,  august,  to  the  Churches. 

Having  experienced,  in  the  flourishing  state  of  public  aflfairs,  the 
greatness  of  the  divine,  goodness,  I  thought  it  especially  incum- 
bent on  me  to  endeavor  that  the  happy  multitudes  of  the  Catholic 
Church  should  preserve  one  faith,  be  united  in  unfeigned  lov^e, 
and  harmoniously  join  in  their  devotions  to  Almighty  God.     But 


^ 


53  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

this  could  not  otherwise  be  effected  in  a  firm  and  solid  manner, 
than  by  an  examination,  for  this  purpose,  of  whatever  pertains 
to  our  most  holy  religion,  by  all  the  bishops,  or  the  greater  part 
of  them  at  least,  assembled  together.  Having  therefore  convened 
as  many  as  possible,  I  myself  being  present,  and,  as  it  were,  one 
of  you,  (nor  do  I  deny  that  I  exceedingly  rejoice  in  being  your 
fellow-servant,)  every  thing  was  examined,  until  a  unanimous 
sentiment,  pleasing  to  God,  who  sees  all  things,  was  brought  to 
hght ;  so  that  no  pretence  was  left  for  dissension  or  controversy 
respecting  the  faith. 

When  the  question  arose  concerning  the  most  holy  day  of 
Easter,  it  was  decreed  by  common  consent  to  be  expedient,  that 
this  festival  should  be  celebrated  on  the  same  day  by  all,  in  every 
place.  For  what  can  be  more  beautiful,  v/hat  more  venerable 
and  becoming,  than  that  this  festival,  from  which  we  receive  the 
hope  of  immortality,  should  be  suitably  observed  by  all  in  one  and 
the  same  order,  and  by  a  certain  rule.  And  truly,  in  the  first 
place,  it  seemed  to  every  one  a  most  unworthy  thing  that  we 
should  follow  the  custom  of  the  Jews  in  the  celebration  of  this 
most  holy  solemnity,  who,  polluted  wretches !  having  stained 
their  hands  with  a  nefarious  crime,  are  justly  bhnded  in  their 
minds.  It  is  fit,  therefore,  that,  rejecting  the  practice  of  this  peo- 
ple, we  should  perpetuate  to  all  future  ages  the  celebration  of  this 
rite,  in  a  more  legitimate  order,  which  we  have  kept  from  the  first 
day  of  our  Lord's  passion  even  to  the  present  times.  Let  us  then 
have  nothing  in  common  with  the  most  hostile  rabble  of  the  Jews. 
We  have  received  another  method  from  the  Saviour.  A  more 
lawful  and  proper  course  is  open  to  our  most  holy  religion.  In 
pursuing  this  course  with  a  unanimous  consent,  let  us  withdraw 
ourselves,  my  much  honored  brethren,  from  that  most  odious  fel 
lowship.  It  is  indeed  in  the  highest  degree  preposterous,  that 
they  should  superciliously  vaunt  themselves,  that  truly  without 
their  instruction,  we  cannot  properly  observe  this  rite.  For  what 
can  they  rightly  understand,  who,  after  the  tragical  death  of  our 
Lord,  being  deluded  and  darkened  in  their  minds,  are  carried 
away  by  an  unrestrained  impulse  wherever  tlreir  inborn  madness 
may  impel  them.     Hence  therefore  it  is,  that,  even  in  this  parti- 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  53 

cular,  they  do  not  perceive  the  truth,  so  that  continually  wander- 
ing in  the  grossest  error,  instead  of  duly  reforming  their  calcula- 
tion, they  commemorate  the  passover  twice  in  the  same  year. 
Why  then  should  we  follow  those  who  are  acknowledged  to  labor 
under  a  grievous  error  ?  for  we  will  never  tolerate  the  keeping  of 
a  double  passover  in  one  year.  But  if  what  I  have  said  should 
not  be  thought  sufficient,  it  belongs  to  your  ready  discernment, 
both  by  diligence  and  prayer,  to  use  every  means,  that  the  purity 
of  your  minds  may  not  be  affected  by  a  conformity  in  any  thing 
with  the  customs  of  the  vilest  of  mankind.  Besides,  it  should  be 
considered  that  any  dissension  in  a  business  of  such  importance, 
and  in  a  religious  institution  of  so  great  solemnity,  would  be 
highly  criminal.  For  the  Saviour  has  bequeathed  us  one  festal 
day  of  our  hberation,  that  is,  the  day  of  his  most  holy  passion ; 
and  it  was  his  pleasure  that  his  Church  should  be  one ;  the  mem- 
bers of  which,  although  dispersed  in  many  and  various  places, 
are  yet  nourished  by  the  same  spirit,  that  is,  by  the  will  of  God. 
Let  the  sagacity  of  your  hohness  only  consider,  how  painful  and 
indecorous  it  must  be,  for  some  to  be  experiencing  the  rigors  of 
abstinence,  and  others  to  be  unbending  their  minds  in  convivial 
enjoyment  on  the  same  day ;  and  after  Easter,  for  some  to  be  in- 
dulging in  feasting  and  relaxation,  while  others  are  occupied  in 
the  observance  of  the  prescribed  fasts.  Wherefore,  that  a  suitable 
reformation  should  take  place  in  this  respect,  and  that  one  rule 
should  be  followed,  is  the  will  of  divine  providence,  as  all,  I  think, 
must  perceive.  As  it  is  necessary  that  this  fault  should  be  so 
amended  that  we  may  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  usage 
of  these  parricides  and  murderers  of  our  Lord  ;  and  as  that  order 
is  most  convenient  which  is  observed  by  all  the  churches  of  the 
West,  as  well  as  those  of  the  southern  and  northern  parts  of  the 
world,  and  also  by  some  in  the  East,  it  was  judged  therefore  to  be 
most  equitable  and  proper,  and  I  pledged  myself  that  this  anange- 
ment  should  meet  your  approbation,  viz.  that  the  custom  which 
prevails  with  one  consent  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and  throughout  all 
Italy,  Africa  and  Egypt,  in  Spain,  Gaul,  Britain,  Lybia,  the 
whole  of  Greece,  the  diocese  of  Asia,  Pontus  and  Cilicia,  would 
be  gladly  embraced  by  your  prudence,  considering  that  not  only 
5* 


54  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

the  greatest  number  of  churches  exist  in  the  places  which  have 
been  ah-eady  mentioned,  but  also  that  it  is  most  religious  and 
equitable  that  all  should  wish  what  the  strictest  reason  seems  to 
require,  and  to  have  no  fellowship  with  the  perjury  of  the  Jews. 
And,  to  sum  up  the  whole  in  a  few  words,  it  was  agreeable  to  the 
common  judgment  of  all,  that  the  most  holy  feast  of  Easter 
should  be  celebrated  on  one  and  the  same  day.  Nor  is  it  becom- 
ing, that  in  so  sacred  an  observance  there  should  be  any  diversity ; 
and  it  is  better  to  follow  that  decision,  in  which  all  participation 
in  the  sin  and  error  of  others  is  avoided.  This  being  the  case, 
receive  with  cheerfulness  the  heavenly  and  truly  divine  com- 
mand. For  whatever  is  transacted  in  the  holy  councils  of  the 
bishops,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  divine  will.  Wherefore,  having 
announced  to  our  beloved  brethren  what  has  been  already  writ- 
ten, it  is  your  duty  to  receive  and  establish  the  arguments  already 
stated,  and  the  observance  of  the  most  holy  day ;  that  when  I 
shall  come  into  your  beloved  presence,  so  long  desired  by  me,  I 
may  be  able  to  celebrate,  with  you,  on  one  and  the  same  day,  the 
holy  festival,  and  that  in  all  things  I  may  rejoice  with  you ;  see- 
ing that  the  cruelty  of  the  devil  is  taken  away  by  divine  power, 
through  my  instrumentality,  and  that  your  faith,  your  peace  and 
concord  is  every  where  flourishing. 

May  God  preserve  you,  my  beloved  brethren. 


CANONS. 


The  whole  number  of  canons,  universally  admitted  to  be  genuine,  which  were 
framed  by  the  Council  of  Nice,  is  twenty.  All  of  these  were  translated,  with 
a  view  to  insertion  among  the  documents.  But  as  the  work  has  been  extended 
considerably  beyond  the  original  design,  as  the  canons  relate  altogether  to  mat- 
ters of  discipline,  and  most  of  them  would  probably  be  of  little  general  interest 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  65 

at  the  present  time,  it  was  determined,  on  consultation,  to  publish  a  few  of  them 
only,  which  are  more  particularly  connected  with  the  historical  view,  or  which 
may  otiierwise  seem  to  claim  a  preference.  The  reader  who  may  wish  to  ex- 
amine those  which  are  omitted,  is  referred  to  the  Concilia  Gcneralia  et  Pro- 
vincialia,  Coloniae  Agrippinae,  1618,  page  275,  from  which  the  following  are 
translated. 


Canon  IV. — Of  the  Ordination  of  Bishops. 

It  is  highly  proper  that  a  bishop  should  be  constituted  such  by 
all  the  bishops  in  the  province;  or,  if  this  should  be  difficult, 
either  through  any  urgent  necessity,  or  from  the  length  of  the 
journey,  three,  at  least,  meeting  together,  shall  ordain  the  candi- 
date, provided  those  who  are  absent  shall  also  consent,  and  sig- 
nify their  approval  by  letter.  The  transactions,  however,  which 
may  take  place  in  every  province  must  be  confirmed  by  the  me- 
tropoUtan  bishop. 


Canon  VI. —  Of  the  distinguished  honors  lohich  were  decreed 
to  the  chief  Bishops  in  Ecclesiastical  Government. 

Let  the  ancient  usage  prevail  of  Eg)q)t,  Lybia  and  PentapoUs, 
that  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  have  jurisdiction  over  all  these 
provinces,  since  this  is  the  custom  with  regard  to  the  bishop  in 
Rome.*  In  like  manner,  at  Antioch,  and  in  the  other  provinces, 
let  the  churches  preserve  their  privileges.  It  is  very  clear,  that 
if  any  one  be  made  a  bishop  without  the  consent  of  the  metro- 
politan, the  great  council  has  decreed  that  he  ought  not  to  be  a 
bishop.  But  if  through  their  own  obstinacy  two  or  three  indi- 
viduals oppose  the  election  of  a  candidate,  it  being  just  and  con- 


*  Here,  again,  it  appears,  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  had  no  pre-eminence  at 
the  period  of  the  Niccne  council,  being  placed  on  the  same  footing  only  as  the 
other  metropolitan  prelates. 


56  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

formable  to  the  ecclesiastical  canon,  the  vote  of  the  majority  shall 
prevail. 


Canon  YII. —  Of  the  Bishop  of  jElia.    (Jerusalem.)* 

Since  custom  and  ancient  tradition  require  that  the  bishop  of 
JElia.  be  held  in  veneration,  let  him  have  the  next  degree  of 
honor  to  the  metropohtan,  without  prejudice  to  the  appropriate 
authority  of  the  latter. 


Canon  VIII. — Of  those  ivho  are  called  Cathari,  that  is,  the 
Pure. 

Respecting  those,  formerly  calling  themselves  Cathari,  who 
have  acceded  to  the  holy  Catholic  and  apostolic  Church,  it 
seemed  good  to  the  great  and  holy  council,  that  receiving  the  im- 
position of  hands,  they  may  thus  continue  in  the  clerical  order. 
But  above  all  things,  it  is  proper  that  they  should  promise  in 
writing  to  approve  and  follow  the  regulations  of  the  holy  apostoUc 
Church,  that  is,  that  they  will  communicate  with  those  who  may 
have  contracted  a  second  marriage,  and  with  those  who,  in  a 
period  of  persecution,  have  fallen  from  the  truth,  but  to  whom  a 
time  is  fixed  and  a  season  appointed  for  repentance ;  that  they 
may  observe  in  all  things  the  decrees  of  the  Catholic  Church, 

*  Jerusalem  having  been  destroyed  by  Titus,  a  colony  was  afterwards  established 
on  its  ruins  by  Adrian,  and  the  place  was  then  called  ^lia.  As  a  new  city,  it 
was  of  no  great  importance,  and  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Csesarea,  the  me- 
tropolis of  Palestine.  The  Christian  world,  however,  was  not  unmindful  of  its 
antiquity,  and  of  the  interesting  events  of  which  it  was  the  scene.  Especially 
was  it  remembered  as  the  sacred  spot,  where  tliat  divine  religion,  which  was  one 
day  to  be  extended  throughout  the  world,  was  first  proclaimed  by  our  Lord  and 
his  apostles.  For  these  reasons  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem  was  thus  distinguished, 
and  Eusebius  has  preserved  the  succession  of  prelates  in  that  city,  as  well  as 
those  in  the  other  apostolic  sees. 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  57 

"Wlierever  therefore,  they  alone  may  be  found  ordained,  whether 
in  villages  or  cities,  they  shall  remain  in  the  same  order,  to  which 
they  had  been  admitted.  But  if  any  of  them  come  to  a  place 
where  there  is  a  bishop  or  a  presbyter  of  the  Cathohc  Church,  it 
is  evident  that  the  bishop  of  the  Cathohc  Church,  shall  have  the 
episcopal  dignity.  But  he  who  is  called  a  bishop  by  the  Cathari, 
shall  have  the  rank  of  a  presbyter,  unless  it  shall  seem  fit  to  the 
bishop  to  share  with  hmi  the  honor  of  the  title ;  but  if  otherwise, 
he  shall  provide  for  him  the  place  of  a  country  bishop,  {xupeTviaKOKov,) 
or  of  a  presbyter,  that  he  may  by  all  means  appear  to  be  in  the 
number  of  the  clergy,  and  that  there  may  not  be  two  bishops  in 
one  city. 


Canon  XIII. —  Of  those  who  solicit  Coin?)iunion  at  the  point 
of  death. 

Concerning  those  who  depart  this  hfe,  the  ancient  and  ecclesi- 
astical law  shall  now  also  be  observed,  that  if  any  one  is  about  to 
expire,  he  may  not  be  deprived  of  the  viaticum  of  the  Lord.  But 
if,  in  despair  of  life,  havmg  received  the  communion,  and  par- 
taken of  the  offering,  he  be  again  numbered  with  the  hving,  let 
him  be  placed  with  those  who  participate  in  prayer  only.  By  all 
means,  however,  let  the  bishop  unpart  the  offering  to  every  one, 
on  examination,  who  desires,  at  the  point  of  death,  to  partake  of 
the  eucharist. 


Canon  XV. —  Of  the  inexpedienci/  of  removiny  from  one  city 
to  another. 

On  account  of  the  frequent  tumults  and  seditions  which  arise, 
it  is  decreed,  that  the  custom  which  exists  in  some  parts,  contrary 
to  the  canon,  be  entirely  taken  away ;  so  that  no  bishop,  priest  or 


58  COUNCIL  OF  NICE. 

deacon,  be  permitted  to  migrate  from  one  city  to  another.  If  any 
one  after  this  determination  of  the  holy  synod,  shall  attempt  any 
such  thing-,  or  shall  engag-e  in  a  business  of  this  nature,  such  a 
proceeding  shall  be  rendered  altogether  void,  and  he  shall  be  re- 
stored to  the  church  of  which  he  has  been  ordained  bishop,  priest 
or  deacon. 


Canon  XYI. —  Of  those  who  do  not  remain  in  the  churches  to 
which  they  have  been  appointed. 

Whoever,  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  and 
disregarding  the  ecclesiastical  canon,  shall  rashly  withdraw  from 
the  church,  whether  they  be  priests  or  deacons,  or  in  any  other 
ecclesiastical  order,  such  persons  ought  by  no  means  to  be  received 
by  any  other  church,  but  should  be  compelled  to  return  to  their 
own  parishes ;  and  those  w^ho  are  obstinate,  should  be  deprived 
of  the  communion.  If  any  clergyman  should  presume  to  invade 
wdiat  belongs  to  another,  and  be  ordained  in  his  church,  without 
the  consent  of  the  bishop  from  whom  he  had  withdrawn,  such 
ordination  shall  be  null  and  void. 


Canon  XVIII. — Of  presbyters  receiving  the  eucharist  from 
deacons. 

It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  great  and  holy  coun- 
cil, that  in  certain  places  and  cities,  the  eucharist  is  administered 
by  deacons  to  presbyters,  and  neither  law  nor  custom  permitting 
that  those  who  have  no  authority  to  offer  the  body  of  Christ 
should  deliver  it  to  those  who  have ;  and  it  being  also  understood, 
that  some  deacons  receive  the  eucharist  before  even  the  bishops, 
let  therefore  all  these  irregularities  be  removed,  and  let  the  dea- 
cons remain  within  their  own  limits,  knowing  that  they  are 


COUNCIL  OF  NICE.  59 

ministers  of  the  bishops,  and  inferior  to  the  presbyters.  Let  them 
receive  the  eucharist  in  their  proper  place,  after  the  presbyters, 
whether  it  be  administered  by  a  bishop  or  presbyter.  Nor  is  it 
permitted  to  deacons  to  sit  among  the  presbyters,  as  that  is  against 
rule  and  order.  If  any  one  will  not  obey,  even  after  these  regula- 
tions, let  him  desist  from  his  ministry.* 


*  The  order  of  deacons  was  instituted  to  serve  tables,  and  chiefly  the  table  of 
the  Lord.  It  is  mentioned  by  Justin  Martyr,  towards  the  close  of  his  second 
apology  for  the  Christians,  that  they  were  employed  to  carry  the  bread  and  wine 
to  such  communicants  as  were  absent.  They  had  the  administration  of  the  of- 
ferings,  and  of  all  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  churches.  The  poor  received 
from  their  hands  the  alms  of  the  faithful,  and  the  clergy,  their  stipends  and 
remuneration.  All  this  was  adapted  to  increase  their  consequence,  and  gave 
them,  says  Fleury,  a  kind  of  authority  over  the  priests.  The  council  of  Aries 
had  already  begun  to  check  the  aspiring  views  of  the  deacons,  by  prohibiting 
that  order,  in  their  eighteenth  canon,  "  ut  diaconus  nihil  sine  presbytero  suo 
agat,"  from  taking  upon  themselves  any  functions  belonging  to  the  priests. 


GENERAL    BOOKBIND[NG    CO. 

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CAYLORD 

P«,.Teo,s.s. 

BW427  .E5C9  1842 
The  ecclesiastical  history 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00065  6597 


